Heathen is an American thrash metal band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1984, the group originally consisted of vocalist Sam Kress, guitarists Lee Altus and Jim Sanguinetti, and drummer Carl Sacco. After the band's first live performance, Kress and Sanguinetti were replaced by David White (then known as David Godfrey) and Doug Piercy, respectively, while Eric Wong was brought in as their first bassist. The group's current lineup features Altus alongside White (who rejoined in 1989 after leaving in 1988), guitarist Kragen Lum (since 2007) and bassist Jason Mirza (since 2019). On tour, Altus has been replaced by Kyle Edissi since summer 2022, and the band has performed with touring drummer Kyle Idris since early 2023.
Heathen was formed in the summer of 1984[1] by Lee Altus and Carl Sacco, who brought in Sam Kress and Jim Sanguinetti to complete the original lineup.[2] Shortly after performing their first show in April 1985,[3] the band broke up, before Altus and Sacco reformed the band with new second guitarist Doug Piercy in October — bassist Eric Wong joined in November and vocalist David White (then David Godfrey) completed the new lineup in December.[4] After the release of the band's first demo Pray for Death in 1986, Wong left due to "personal reasons", with Mike "Yaz" Jastremski taking over from March 1987.[5] With the new bassist, Heathen released its full-length debut album Breaking the Silence on Combat Records in 1987.[6] Around January 1988, Sacco left Heathen and was replaced by Darren Minter.[7]
After briefly leaving in 1988, David White rejoined Heathen in early 1989.
After leaving Combat Records and recording a new demo,[8] Heathen dismissed Godfrey in late 1988 and replaced him with former Exodus frontman Paul Baloff.[9] By early 1989, Jastremski had left to form a new band,[10] with Manny Bravo taking his place.[11] Around the same time, Baloff left and was replaced briefly by David Wayne (formerly of Metal Church), followed by Rick Weaver, before Godfrey (now using the name David White) returned in time for the recording of the Opiate of the Masses demo in March.[11] The demo also featured new bassist Vern McElroy, from Blind Illusion.[7] During 1990, the band recorded Victims of Deception with session stand-in Mark Biedermann, before Randy Laird took over in early 1991.[12] During his first tour that summer, Laire died in a car accident; he was later replaced by Jason VieBrooks.[13]
Heathen reformed in August 2001, with returning members White, Altus, Black and Minter joined by former bassist Mike Jastremski.[19] In June 2004, after the release of Recovered, Jastremski was replaced by Jon Torres.[20] Not long after, Black also left the band, with former Mercenary guitarist Sven Soderlund temporarily taking his place.[21] The remaining four members recorded a demo in early 2005, before announcing the addition of Terry Lauderdale on guitar that June.[22]
Shortly after starting work on a planned third album, Heathen announced in December 2007 that Lauderdale and Minter had left the group, replaced by Prototype guitarist Kragen Lum and former Vio-lence drummer Mark Hernandez, respectively.[23] Less than a year later, Minter had returned to the lineup.[24] The long-awaited third album, The Evolution of Chaos, was recorded with the new lineup and first released in December 2009.[25] During the subsequent touring cycle, Jason VieBrooks returned starting in January 2011 to replace Torres, who temporarily left to "focus on his health".[26] Torres later died on September 2, 2013, and VieBrooks remained a member of the band.[27]
In the spring of 2011, Minter was temporarily replaced by Jon Dette due to "previous work commitments" which prevented him from touring.[28] Two years later, Minter left permanently and Dette stepped in again for tour dates in the summer of 2013.[29] After more than a year of inactivity, in January 2015 the band played with former Forbidden drummer Sasha Horn.[30]
Since 2019
After another extended period of inactivity, Heathen announced in June 2019 that it had begun work on a new album.[31] When the result, Empire of the Blind, was announced the following year, it was also revealed that the lineup featured new bassist Jason Mirza and drummer Jim DeMaria.[32] Since the summer of 2022, Altus has been replaced on tour by Kyle Edissi, due to his commitments with Exodus and other issues.[33] DeMaria left after touring until late 2022,[33] with Ryan Idris taking his place from early the next year.[34] During 2025, Jason Bittner contributed drums to recordings for an upcoming album release.[35]
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