MEGADETH’s “Rust In Peace” was astonishing for two reasons: one, it was, and is, a damn fine slab of American Thrash, and two, it did well despite its extremely dated songs. Disregarding his present day commitments to religion, Dave Mustaine demonstrated like so many other Thrash Metal greats, that if done right, it never really gets old. The same may be said for HEATHEN. Both of their albums, “Breaking The Silence” and “Victims Of Deception”, roared in on the tail end of Thrash Metal and did well because the albums were genuinely good, not because Thrash was popular at the time. “Breaking The Silence” offers nothing short of clean, polished Metal with standard IRON MAIDEN chops and an all around Power Metal-like vibe that thankfully does not border on the ridiculous. The only other band I can think of that walked a road similar to HEATHEN’s is New York’s TOXIK. Perhaps HEATHEN weren’t the most original band, but that does not mean “Breaking The Silence” is not a classic. Timing is everything, and “Breaking The Silence” debuted just late enough to be somewhat of a breath of fresh air, at least for fans of clear cut and level headed Metal. There is not a single minute on the album that is not excellently executed. This re-release got remastered, comes in a limited edition digipak and features a 12 page booklet with new layout and all lyrics plus four bonus tracks, that were taken from the “Pray For Death” demo. www.myspace.com/heathenmetal, www.heathenmetal.com, www.centurymedia.com.