Heathen was officially formed in 1985, but had deeper roots extending to the early 80's. Guitarist Doug Piercy, drummer Carl Sacco and singer Sam Kress were integral Bay Area names. Kress would come up with the band's name. The band went bassless for a while but eventually recruited Sceptre's Eric Wong. This line-up churned out an inaugural demo in 1986 called Pray For Death, but Wong was soon turfed for incoming bassist Yaz. Carl and Lee had been teenage neighbours. The early line-up also featured Jim Sanguinetti who would soon join Mordred.

Combat records on the East Coast soon went for the band's complex speed metal sound and released the debut in 1997. Local hero Ronnie Montrose from the 70's band Montrose would produce the LP. The label would issue a single for the track Set Me Free, which was a Sweet cover version. Heathen would soon begin bleeding members. One new recruit was bassist Biedermann, an old pal of singer Godfrey. Godfrey was soon out though. Apparently the band and label were concerned with his voice's commercial viability. None other than Exodus' Paul Baloff is recruited to fill the vacant slot. Baloff was already booted from Exodus owing to his personality and addiction and predictably will not last. Godfrey is soon back. Baloff returned to Piranha for a while. The band was simultaneously off the Combat deal after expressing much dissatisfaction with the label's lack of support.

Heathen released its second album through Roadrunner in 1991 after a four year hiatus. The new company promoted the album by citing the presence of a Rainbow cover version. The album featured bassist Randy Laire. The band would also drop Doug from the line-up. The band toured with Sacred Reich and Sepultura. Roadrunner would soon drop the band. It was rumoured at the time that Heathen was not selling well and the members were acting unprofessionally. Laire was soon killed in a car accident. A couple of the band members would soon form a cover band called The Company. Others would play in Bomb Threat. Future Grip Inc man Jason Vie Brooks soon joined the ever-changing fold, but things would soon fall apart. Altus had moved to Germany to become a part of the techno/dance band Die Krupps. Joining him was Darren Minter. Minter left the fold in late 1994 because he was incarcerated in the USA for possession of illegal weapons.

What goes around comes around and it was reported in late 2000 that Altus, Godfrey, Rasmussen, Vie Brooks and Minter have reformed Heathen. Minter would remain involved in Deconstruct and Angelwitch. Altus had earlier denied the possibility of a Heathen reunion. Heathen played at the Thrash Of The Titans show in 2001 and Wacken in 2002 and began working on a new album called Recovered.

The much-delayed Recovered Rarities (later Recovered) album was later postponed to March, and then May, 2004. The band would then set out to write a new album, albeit without guitarist Doug Piercy who had opted not to join the band. Heathen recruited bassist Jon Torres (formerly of Lääz Rockit, The Lord Weird Slough, Angelwitch and others) in June, 2004 to replace Mark Biedermann. The third album was scheduled for release in the spring of 2005 through Thundering Records. Entitled Recovered¸ the band had begun the project in 1992¸ but tracks remained archived and unfinished until 2005. Bassist Mike "Yaz" Jastremski, a veteran of the Bay Rea scene, died in May of 2005. Altus joined Exodus. One-time singer Sam Kress died at the end of 2006.

Drummer Darren Minter and guitarist Terry Lauderdale left in 2008. Guitarist Kragen Lum of Prototype and drummer Mark Hernandez formerly of Vio-Lence were temporarily in the band.

HEATHEN - BREAKING THE SILENCE - COMBAT/CENTURY MEDIA
Can you imagine Malmsteen without the classical influences and Testament with clear, sometimes high-pitch vocals, combined with Speed Metal? Add a bit of Iron Maiden to that (especially in the guitar work), and you get Heathen.
Breaking The Silence was originally released through Combat Records in 1987, but the CD used for this review is the Century Media re-release of 1999. Heathen’s most prominent band members at that time were guitarists Lee Altus and Doug Piercy (former member of Anvil Chorus, Exodus and Legacy) and singer David Godfrey (Blind Illusion). Godfrey might be the most melodic Bay Area singer of his time, which is already evident in the opener: Death By Hanging begins with a Malmsteen-like intro, but soon develops into a straight-forward riff monster with a catchy chorus: "Death by hanging ¬ death from the gallows ¬ death by hanging around". You notice a certain kind of (maybe unintended) humour. Goblin’s Blade features fantasy lyrics given the fact that Goblins traditionally guard bridges and kill people who are unable to answer their questions ¬ again, melodic vocals. Open the grave is a mid-tempo song with a tapping intro, whereas Pray For Death criticizes the military, politicians and religion or at least their negative aspects. The solos are lightning-fast here. Set Me Free is a Sweet cover that does not really fit the atmosphere of the album. It is not a good song in its original form, but of course the guitar parts are improved here and sound like Maiden during the solos. The title track again has a Maiden touch until the main riff sets in and clearly identifies it as pure Heathen. World’s End starts with an acoustic intro, but gets heavy soon after. The creative riffing and several bridges and sub-choruses are unique. Save The Skull is simple and a bit weaker than the rest. The re-release also features the bonus track Heathen from the 1986 Pray For Death demo with a great melodic middle part and four songs from same demo, namely Pray For Death (with a church organ), Goblin’s Blade, Open The Grave, and Heathen in another version.
This is a very melodic album, yet still incredibly heavy, fast and creative. - Andreas Herzog