For the past 19 years, many faithful Heathen fans have been waiting for the critically acclaimed thrash band to regain its rightful throne in metal. While the San Francisco natives had popped up on the scene time and again – whether playing at a 2001 benefit concert or releasing the Recovered EP back in 2004 – they had not delivered a full-length studio album of original material since 1991’s Victims Of Deception.
The reasons behind the delay were many, from ever-changing lineups to a nine-year hiatus. But with the latest release
The Evolutin Of Chaos,
Heathen is primed to make an impression on its most loyal devotees – and an entirely new generation of fans.
Vocalist David White will be the first one to tell you that Heathen’s career has been far from perfect, but along the way he developed a stronger sense for songwriting and performing. Upon reuniting with Heathen for the Thrash Of The Titans concert fundraiser in 2001 for Chuck Billy and Chuck Schuldiner (who were suffering from germ cell seminoma and brain cancer respectively), White immediately knew the chemistry between his bandmates had not been affected by the time apart. That one show opened the door to a series of other integral events, including a return to songwriting with guitarist Lee Altus and extensive touring across Europe. The Evolution Of Chaos (released February 16) marks Heathen’s official return as a driving force in thrash, and White is optimistic that the album has arrived during a time when metal is making a powerful comeback.
UG: It’s been 19 years since fans have heard an album full of original material from Heathen. Were some of the songs we hear on The Evolution of Chaos written over a lengthy period of time or did it all come together in the last year or so?
David: There were some riffs that were written in the early 90’s after the second record, but they were just riffs at that point. We had ones that we were able to save and ones we were able to find from the different tapes that we had, and then there was a lot of new stuff. We took those riffs and were creating something from that piece of nothing. With the new guys, there was definitely fresh material. I would say all the lyrics were all done within a year-and-a-half’s time of putting all the songs together. Some of them were actually written while we were in the studio.
In the past had you written a good deal of material while in the studio?
Things change sometimes. When you’re in preproduction and you’re writing down melodies or writing down lyrics and trying to hear what sounds good and what makes sense, it’s a little bit of a process. Some things stick and then some things change. I think with “No Stone Unturned,” I had pretty much written the whole thing. Lee had been out on the road for awhile with Exodus. He came back and didn’t realize that I had finished it. When I laid it down, we felt the verses could be stronger just melody-wise. We developed the verses lyrically, so I rehashed those several times and changed them around and rewrote until we found something that we could all agree on. Every song is different. On “A Hero’s Welcome,” I got the riff from Lee a few years back. I wrote something with more poetry, and he just felt it was a little bit too out there for the metal crowd, I guess. So we talked about ideas for that song, and that’s when “A Hero’s Welcome” came. I wrote it during the time that we recorded.
"There were some riffs that were written in the early 90’s. We took those riffs and were creating something from that piece of nothing."
The record came out earlier in Japan. They worked out a deal with Mascot, and they printed it out early and put it out December 23 of 2009. It officially leaked on January 1. So we asked the label to push the release dates for Europe and the States up before everybody got it. They were able to push the U.S. release, but that wouldn’t be until March. Once it was out completely, that’s when we had started to put out a couple of songs on MySpace. We would put two songs and then two more, and then we put everything on there as just a promotional tool. They can check it out, but they can’t download it in America. They can check it out and listen. Then if they like it, hopefully they’ll go out and they’ll purchase it.
The Evolution of Chaos has gotten some very impressive critical reviews so far. One reviewer even said, “This is the album Metallica should have made after Master of Puppets.” Given the amount of time that has passed since your last full-length, do those comments reinforce that you’re coming back at the perfect time?
Yeah, I think so. I’ve been asked many times about the long wait. We’ve had lineup changes and all kinds of things. It just seems to be that, lucky for us, the timing is perfect. It’s the perfect time to come out. The Metallica record came out last year, so everybody got a chance to listen to that for a year. Now we’ve come out with something that’s not going to be compared to that. They were able to actually beat us getting it out sooner. When somebody says anything that has to do with Metallica – comparing you to Metallica or anything like that – it just makes you feel good that they’ll put us in that realm.
From reading some of your fans’ commentary, you can definitely tell there are quite a few listeners out there very glad to have you back. Do you feel that metal is stronger than ever?
I think it’s starting to build back up again at this point. I think it needs a whole other shot in the arm to where the fans are coming out to the clubs and supporting their local bands. I think it’s definitely growing and I think it’s at a good point right now. I hope that we’ll keep growing really big to where it can really support itself. It’s really dependant on how the fans react and as far as how they support it. That’s the only thing that concerns me with downloading. Across the board in any kind of music, record sales are down. That’s due to downloading, getting music for free. I don’t think metal fans are quite that cheap. I think they definitely care more about the music and about the bands that they like. I think it’s a family sort of thing. We’re a metal family. I think the true fans are going to go out there and buy the records and support the groups. There are other groups out there that have records out now. We definitely want the support so that we can make the records and then come out and tour a lot. We want to do some good tours, some good festivals, and stay busy. It all depends on the fans.
Rewinding the clock back, I’d like to talk briefly about that initial concert in 2001(a benefit for Chuck Billy and Chuck Schuldiner) that reunited Heathen. Was there any hesitation in getting back together? Once onstage, was the chemistry immediately there?
There was no real hesitation. It was just a matter of pulling everybody together. The chemistry has always been there. Because of the cause of the concert and what it was about, that was the sole reason why there was no hesitation. We didn’t go into it thinking that we were going to put the band back together and try to do anything. It was just a matter of putting the band together and doing a show for both Chucks, have fun, and be part of something good. It wasn’t until later on after that when we were invited to play the Rock Hard Festival in Germany. That was in front of like 60,000 people, which is the biggest show that Heathen had ever done. Preparing for that, doing that, that’s when we thought, “This is great. There are great fans and metal is starting to come back now. Maybe it’s a good time for us.”
You’ve been a key figure in the metal scene since the mid-80’s. Has your approach to music changed much over the years?
I hope so! I play instruments as well, so I think I’ve grown as a songwriter. I’m definitely more confident in that. I’ve learned from being inspired by other writers to really move around and be free with the arrangements and the flow. Also, I think I’m more confident as far as working on melodies with the band and everything. I’m a bit more stubborn. On certain things, if I feel really strongly about something, I stick to my guns. So I definitely hope that I’ve grown in some way. I think it shows in this record as far as really writing what I’m feeling or thinking. It’s not necessarily some kind of story or whatever that I concocted. I want to write something that’s real.
"The Metallica record came out last year. Now we’ve come out with something that’s not going to be compared to that."
There were a lot, especially with this record. Trying to write it and trying to get together with him, he was pretty busy with Exodus a lot. He toured a lot. It was one of those things where he also moved several times during the process. I would help him move just so that we could have a studio setup so that we could work on the songs and be ahead of the game. It was very difficult to pin him down. There was one point where I had to take it and just go. I had to start writing and not depend on him. I had to stop worrying about trying to write with him at that point because we didn’t have time for that. He didn’t really have the time and make the time when he did have the time. I took the bull by the horns and did all that. Actually going to the studio and writing the ideas down, he was critical on a lot of different things, which pissed me off! It was like, “You know that’s great that you’re here now, but it’s a little late to push that opinion on me. I spent hours upon hours working on this material.” It was letting him know like, “I would have rather it had been us working on it step by step. Now we’re here in the studio.” We had to pick our battles. There were a couple heated debates. Paper was flying! There were certain things where I had to stand my ground, and then there were times when I had to be open to ideas for the better of the song. I think where I stood my ground, the songs benefitted. There were ideas of his that were beneficial, too. That’s part of the process. It doesn’t always go that way, but for this particular record it did.
Are you now working with a full Pro Tools setup? Do you go over everything with a fine tooth comb in the studio?
We did do it with Pro Tools. The studio had a great drum room and we had a great drum sound. That was all natural drums – no triggers or anything like that. You get the natural sound from the amps and all that. With Pro Tools, you just have so much at your disposal. We definitely went through everything with a fine tooth comb, which is why it took us six months to record. The studio was owned by a friend of ours who produced the record, and he allowed us that freedom. He cared about this record as much as we did. It was really liberating to have that amount of time to get it done. I always used to wonder why certain bands would take a year or two years to do a record. I think a year or two years is a bit long, but I understand it more. I think if you get going too long, you tend to overthink things. You have a great idea the first couple of months. Then you work on it too many times and you overthink it. When the end result comes out, you’ve lost all perspective. I think we were able to do it in the time to keep perspective and make it sound the best it could.
Are you still working out details for a tour?
Right now we have a European tour that is pretty much locked in right now. We were supposed to go out in March, and we had to reschedule it. Now it looks like we’re going to Europe at the end of April and play for about three weeks. We’ll hit several countries and then come back. Hopefully we’ll work out something for the States in the summertime. It’s tough because Lee is still doing Exodus, and they’re pretty busy. I know they have a new record coming out pretty soon, too. It makes for a difficult time arranging that. We definitely need to be hitting the States with the record for sure.
Were there any songs left over from the recording process that might make their way onto future releases?
There weren’t any songs that we recorded. They were songs that we had worked on during the process for preproduction. I would say we probably have four, maybe five songs that Lee and I have worked on. I know Kragen has a couple more. Jon has a couple up his sleeve. I think right now we’re concentrating on this record and what we have to do to promote it. I think the next record is going to come together pretty quickly.
Interview by Amy Kelly
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