San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal veterans HEATHEN will release their fourth studio album, "Empire Of the Blind", on September 18 via Nuclear Blast Records. The lyric video for the first single, "The Blight", can be seen below.
"Empire Of the Blind" was for the most part engineered, produced, mixed, and mastered by Christopher "Zeuss" Harris at Planet Z Studios. Additional details — rhythm guitars, etc. — were put to digital "tape" by Kragen Lum at SubLevel Studio in Little Rock, Arkansas. The album features guest appearances by Gary Holt (EXODUS, SLAYER), Rick Hunolt (ex-EXODUS) and Doug Piercy (ex-HEATHEN). The cover art to "Empire Of the Blind" was once again handled by renowned artist Travis Smith (OVERKILL, EXHORDER).
The band comments: "We are very pleased to announce 'Empire Of the Blind'! It's been another 10 years but we are finally back with a new HEATHEN album. Fine wine takes time! Everyone in the band worked their asses off on this record. Zeuss absolutely nailed it and more than realized our vision for the sound. Travis Smith perfectly captured the bleak atmosphere that we imagined for the artwork. It was a year in the making and we couldn't be more proud of the outcome. The first single 'The Blight' is just the beginning... behold the rising Empire!"
"Empire Of the Blind" track listing:
01. This Rotting Sphere
02. The Blight
03. Empire Of The Blind
04. Dead And Gone
05. Sun In My Hand
06. Blood To Be Let
07. In Black
08. Shrine Of Apathy
09. Devour
10. A Fine Red Mist
11. The Gods Divide
12. Monument To Ruin
"Empire Of The Blind" is the follow-up to "The Evolution Of Chaos", which was released as a 10th-anniversary remastered reissue on January 31 via Mascot Records. The effort was made available on CD/DVD, 2LP and digitally with a previously unreleased bonus track, "Seasons Of Purgatory". The CD/DVD was accompanied by a two-hour "making-of" documentary on the album as well as a live performance from 2009's Thrash Domination in Japan.
When "The Evolution Of Chaos" was originally released back in January 2010, it was HEATHEN's first full-length collection of new material in 18 years and saw them ride a wave of the resurgent thrash scene.
HEATHEN is often credited — alongside EXODUS, TESTAMENT, FORBIDDEN, DEATH ANGEL and VIO-LENCE — with being one of the leaders of the Bay Area thrash metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s.
Since its 1984 inception, HEATHEN has gone through several lineup changes, leaving Altus as the only constant member.
To date, HEATHEN has released three studio albums: 1987's "Breaking the Silence", 1991's "Victims Of Deception" and the aforementioned "The Evolution Of Chaos".
HEATHEN in 2012 inked a deal with Nuclear Blast Records.
Altus has been a member of EXODUS since 2005. He joined the group as the replacement for Rick Hunolt, who left EXODUS to concentrate on his family life.
HEATHEN is:
David White - Vocals
Lee Altus - Guitar
Kragen Lum - Guitar
Jason Mirza - Bass
Jim DeMaria – Drums
