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Artist

Heathen

Rap
Rap

Heathen is a Rap act. Their sound grew out of Toxic, Sweet, Rainbow and Combat Records. Those roots explain a lot about how Heathen arrange songs and choose their tones. They run in the same orbit as Forbidden, Overkill, Destruction, Nuclear Assault and Warbringer, sharing audiences, venues and reference points rather than a straight line of influence. Their influence carried into Testament, Exodus, Forbidden and Death Angel, where the same ideas turn up rearranged for a later generation. Altogether the chart holds 18 connections around Heathen, reaching back through Toxic and forward to Testament. Follow any of those threads to keep travelling the influence between bands and genres on Starverb.

Background

Heathen is an American thrash metal band originating from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1984 to 1993 and again from 2001 onwards. Despite never achieving commercial success, the band is often credited – alongside Exodus, Testament, Forbidden, Death Angel and Vio-lence – as one of the leaders of the Bay Area thrash metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s. To date, Heathen has released four studio albums: Breaking the Silence (1987), Victims of Deception (1991), The Evolution of Chaos (2009) and Empire of the Blind (2020). As of guitarist Lee Altus' split with Heathen in 2026, there are no original members left in the current lineup of the band although he and frontman David White are the only ones to appear on every album.

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Roots — what shaped themLegacy — who they shapedKindred — same orbit
HeathenToxicSweetRainbowCombat RecordsTestamentExodusForbiddenDeath AngelForbiddenOverkillDestructionNuclear AssaultWarbringerTestamentKreatorHavok

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Heathen connections

Heathen grew out of Toxic, Sweet, Rainbow and Combat Records, shares an orbit with Forbidden, Overkill, Destruction and Nuclear Assault, went on to shape Testament, Exodus, Forbidden and Death Angel. 18 connections mapped across roots, kindred and legacy.

Who influenced Heathen

Roots4

Sounds and acts that shaped Heathen.

Artists similar to Heathen

Kindred10

Artists and scenes sharing an orbit with Heathen.

Bands Heathen shaped

Legacy4

Where the influence of Heathen travelled next.

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