Heathen

Their first full-length in almost two decades, Heathen's The Evolution of Chaos is hands down a classic thrash album of epic proportions. You got the NWOBHM-era duelling guitars, a powerful singer in David White and tight songs, with just one unfortunate hiccup: the cheesy "A Hero's Welcome," which is saddled with some terrible lyrics, flinchingly bad choruses and a speaking portion that despite its seriousness makes you want to laugh out loud. But besides that, the combined material of new tracks and a few from their demo (2004's Recovered EP) are pure in their delivery and so incredibly tight one wonders why we had to wait so long ― this album was five years in the making ― for theses old geezers to show the young 'uns how thrash is done. Despite the obvious similarities to Kill 'Em All-era Metallica, especially on "No Stone Unturned," with the galloping intro and clean bass undertones, and numerous line-up changes, The Evolution of Chaos is a must-have purchase for 2010.