Senior journalist Anabel DFlux had the opportunity to pick the brain of Kragen from Heathen, guitarist extraordinaire. Heathen is an American thrash metal band originating from the San Francisco Bay Area, anxiously anticipating the release of their upcoming album Empire of the Blind. The two chatted about the correlation between the album’s concept and current world events, the art that encompasses the release, and what you can expect in the future from Heathen.
Thank you so much for chatting with us today! Heathen has an upcoming album at the cusp of being released, Empire Of the Blind. With there being such a gap between Empire of the Blind and Heathen’s previous release, how do you feel the gap has impacted the album’s writing process? Is there a difference in how you all work together?
Kragen: Well, we actually started writing music for the new Heathen album back in 2012. Half of the album was more or less written by 2014. The only thing that really changed with the songwriting process is the fact that we all live far away from each other now. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the luxury of getting together to work on the songs so the entire album was written and demoed in my home studio. With the big gap in between albums, the important thing for us was to make sure that the songs, recording and production were the very best that they could be. We knew that after 10 years we had to come out with something very strong.
This is the first album to feature Jason Mirza and Jim DeMaria on bass and drums respectively. How did the two fit into this upcoming release?
Kragen: I have known Jason Mirza and been in Psychosis with him since the early ‘90s. He also spent some time in the Bay Area scene before I met him in Los Angeles so he already knew David and Lee. It was really a perfect fit. The same for Jim DeMaria. We have known Jim for many years already and had toured together when he was in Generation Kill. Both guys are great musicians and great people. It’s really a cool family vibe in the band now, which should serve us well in the future. Their performances on the new record are great. They both understand what makes Heathen sound the way that it does and their contributions to the new record definitely reflect that.
Who produced Empire of the Blind and what was that process like?
Kragen: The new album was produced by Zeuss. We spent about a year working on the album. Zeuss recorded the drums, bass, vocals and Lee’s guitar solos. The rhythm guitar tracks and my solos were recorded in my home studio. One of the reasons we did this was so that we could spend more time working on the album. There are a LOT of guitar tracks on the album and we didn’t want to rush anything. It was a really great process overall. Zeuss did a killer job and got great sounds for each of the instruments. We went to great lengths to use as much analog equipment as possible on the album as possible. He was also able to achieve a great mix and realize our vision of having the sound be part classic analog recording and part modern recording. We’re all very happy with the end result.
Art is such a staple in every release. Tell me about the album cover.
Kragen: The artwork for Empire of the Blind was created by Travis Smith. He has an amazing ability to visualize the lyrical concepts in his artwork and was able to do this perfectly with the album cover. It basically shows an empire in ruins with a giant skull monument in the foreground, with oil oozing from the eye sockets and forming a pool at the bottom. The skull with blindfold represents what was once a mighty empire but has fallen.
The press release writes, “Empire of the Blind is a big metaphor for modern society, one run by social media, the power of immediacy, the persuasiveness of emotion, and how an empire (or nation) can so easily slip into complacency and groupthink.” Do you feel these concepts correlate with the current world pandemic? Do you have an inkling that the current Covid-19 crisis will impact the fan’s perception of the music?
Kragen: The album was actually finished in January of this year before the pandemic started. While some of the lyrical concepts are certainly appropriate for what is happening in the world right now there’s no way that we could have predicted something like this. Many of the more social/political lyrics focus on the manipulation of the public through propaganda in the media and social media. This is something that has been going on throughout history since the dawn of civilization but happens much, much faster and is much more widespread in the age of the internet. Most people get their news and information through the internet and social media these days. The problem is that we don’t know what is true or false, real or fake and misinformation is often spread and shared very quickly before it’s verified. These lyrics reflect on the way that all of this is affecting society and serves as a warning in some ways.
Is there a particular song you fancy on the album more than others?
Kragen: They are all my babies so it’s hard to choose just one. That said, I’m really proud of the way that the title track came out. It’s one of my favorite songs that I have ever written.
What inspired the release of never-before-seen footage on the band’s YouTube channel for The Making of the Evolution of Chaos Documentary?
Kragen: We put together The Making of the Evolution of Chaos Documentary to include on the DVD with the 10th Anniversary edition of the album that was released in January of this year. We had some in studio footage from the recording sessions and thought that it would be cool to put together a documentary on the making of the album and include new interviews with the band and album producer. It ended up coming out great and we just released it on YouTube for those that either bought the vinyl edition or hadn’t otherwise seen the documentary. We also released a 30 minute reel of outtakes from the recording sessions, many of which weren’t included in the documentary.
With concerts being rescheduled to 2021- Is there a show, festival, or tour you are most looking forward to?!
Kragen: I think we’re all just really looking forward to things getting back to normal and being able to tour and promote the new album. We’re in a strange position releasing a new album without the possibility of touring but we’re doing everything we can to make the most of the situation. The most important thing for us is that fans can hear some new Heathen music while they are stuck at home and craving new entertainment!
Thank you!
Kragen: Thanks to you for the interview as well! For those reading, please check out the new Heathen singles for “The Blight” and “Empire of the Blind” and look for the new album to be released on September 18th! We look forward to touring just as soon as live shows are possible. Until then, please follow the band on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube at the links below! Cheers!
Facebook: www.facebook.com/heathen.official
Instagram: @heathenthrash
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/heathenmetalofficial
