Forgotten Gems-Heathen's Rage-s/t

1986

New Jersey's Heathen's Rage were around for a few years back in the 1980's. In between two demos they knocked out this three song EP. Opener "Knights of steel" starts out like it might a progressive metal track of some sorts, but quickly blasts off into an early Iron Maiden inspired style track. Second track "City of hell" takes almost a minute and half to get to the music as we get some deep laughing and some slapping around sounds. However once the song gets going it explodes into an early speed metal style reminding me a lot of Abattoir. Last up is "Dark storm" which begins with a simple yet steady riff that leads the way. This song has a thick sound not far off from early Running Wild. Overall Heathen's Rage played some killer metal that at times ventured into early speed metal territory. The biggest drawback is the production which is almost demo quality with lots of fuzz and even some imbalance between the instruments. Despite that their talent still shows through. A shame they never got around to doing a full length. A really decent band that fans of classic metal would enjoy.

http://www.myspace.com/heathensragetheband