For the past 40 years, the venerated Thrash Metal outfit Heathen have abided by their never-say-die attitude. Formed in 1984 in San Francisco’s Bay Area—home to Exodus, Metallica, Testament, and Death Angel—Heathen quickly separated themselves from the pack by expertly fusing David White’s distinctive vocals with a melody-driven and forward-thinking musical style. The band’s first two albums, Breaking the Silence and Victims of Deception, are widely regarded as Bay Area Thrash classics. The Heathen brand of intelligent yet aggressive Thrash appealed not only to the genre’s core demographic, but also Metal fans looking for brains behind the brawn. The most recent full-length album, Empire of the Blind, continued to push the boundaries of the genre, expanding their audience while restoring faith in vicious yet brainy Thrash Metal, the very kind that put Heathen on the map.