Heathen is an American thrash metal band originating from the San Francisco Bay Area, active from 1984 to 1993 and again from 2001 onwards. Despite never achieving commercial success, the band is often credited – alongside Exodus, Testament, Forbidden, Death Angel and Vio-Lence – as one of the leaders of the Bay Area thrash metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and they have gone through several line-up changes, leaving guitarist Lee Altus as the only constant member. To date, Heathen has released three studio albums: Breaking the Silence (1987), Victims of Deception (1991) and The Evolution of Chaos (2009). The band is currently signed with Nuclear Blast Records and recently completed work on the follow up to The Evolution of Chaos.