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Heathen

Group

Heathen

US thrash metal band

From
San Francisco, United States
Since
1984–present
Rating
★ 5 (1 votes)
Releases
18
  • thrash metal
  • speed metal
  • heavy metal

About

Heathen is an American thrash metal band from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1984 to 1993 and from 2001 onwards. Despite lacking commercial success, the band is credited – alongside Exodus, Testament, Forbidden, Death Angel and Vio-lence – as a leader 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). Guitarist Lee Altus' split with Heathen in 2026 left no original members in the current lineup, although he and frontman David White (who joined in 1985) have appeared on every album.

From Heathen (band) on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Members

  • Lee Altus 1984–1993, 2001–2025, 2001–now · original member electric guitar
  • Dave White 1985–1988, 1989–1993, 2001–now lead vocals
  • Kragen Lum 2007–now electric guitar
  • Carl Sacco 1984–1988 · original member · former drums (drum set)
  • Sam Kress 1985–1985 · former lead vocals
  • James Sanguinetti 1985–1985 · former electric guitar
  • Eric Wong 1985–1986 · former electric bass guitar
  • Doug Piercy 1985–1992 · former electric guitar
  • Mike Jastremski 1986–1988, 2001–2004 · former electric bass guitar
  • Darren Minter 1988–1993, 2001–2007, 2008–2013 · former drums (drum set)
  • Manny Bravo 1989–1989 · former electric bass guitar
  • Vern McElroy 1989–1989 · former electric bass guitar
  • Randy Laird 1991–1991 · former electric bass guitar
  • Jason VieBrooks 1991–1993, 2011–2019 · former electric bass guitar
  • Ira Black 1992–1993, 2001–2004 · former electric guitar
  • Thaen Rasmussen 1993–1993 · former electric guitar
  • Jon Torres 2004–2011 · former electric bass guitar
  • Terry Lauderdale 2005–2007 · former electric guitar
  • Mark Hernandez 2007–2008 · former drums (drum set)
  • Jason Mirza 2013–2013 · former electric bass guitar
  • Jim DeMaria 2020–2024 · former drums (drum set)
  • Jason Bittner 2025–2025 · former drums (drum set)

Discography

Albums 4
Singles 4
Live 5
Compilations 3
Other 2

Links

Listen

Official

Social

Concerts

Buy

Reference

Identifiers

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 10 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.