Defenders Of The Faith, le forum Metal

"A Time Of Crisis", the comeback album from U.S. power/thrash metal act HERETIC, will be released on July 26 through Metal On Metal Records. The band stayed true to its roots and created a really solid CD in the best U.S. metal tradition: heavy, melodic and aggressive.

The cover art for "A Time Of Crisis" was created by a tattoo artist Tom Berg and can be seen below.

"A Time Of Crisis" track listing:

01. The Divine Inquisition
02. Tomorrow’s Plague
03. Betrayed
04. Remains
05. A Time Of Crisis
06. For Your Faith
07. Raise Your Fist
08. Heretic
09. Child Of War
10. Police State
11. The End Of The World
12. Let Me Begin Again

Three songs from the album can be streamed below.

The band, formed in 1985 in Los Angeles, California, released an EP, "Torture Knows No Boundary" (1986), and a full-length, "Breaking Point" (1988), through Metal Blade Records before disbanding. Later on the founding member, songwriter and guitarist Brian Korban together with bassist Dennis O'Hara formed REVEREND, which featured the vocal talents of the late David Wayne (METAL CHURCH).

In 2011 Brian Korban reformed the band, recruiting Julian Mendez, the vocalist who sang on the band's first EP. Soon they were joined by the seasoned musicians, long-time friends and collaborators, guitarist Glenn Rogers (VIKING, ex-HIRAX, ex-DELIVERANCE, ex-STEEL VENGEANCE and others) and bassist Angelo Espino (BITCH, ex-REVEREND, ex-HIRAX, ex-ANGER AS ART, ex-UNCLE SLAM and others) and a young, but talented drummer Ignazio Coppola.

Think "first wave of thrash metal," and what has been come to be known as the "Big Four" immediately come to mind — METALLICA, SLAYER, ANTHRAX and MEGADETH. But that's not to say that there weren't other bands from the era that lent a hand in the trailblazing of the genre — especially HERETIC. And now, fans can hear what the band was all about on a recently released box set, "From the Vault…Tortured and Broken", via Metal Blade Records.

Collecting a pair of classic early releases from the band and expanding them with extra tracks (the 1986 EP "Torture Knows No Boundary" and the 1988 full-length "Breaking Point"), "From The Vault" also includes a DVD comprised of two vintage live performances (the Country Club from 1985 and Jezebels in 1986 — the latter recorded while supporting MEGADETH) and a bonus video clip (for the track "Let 'Em Bleed").

Hailing from Los Angeles, the band was founded by guitarist Brian Korban in 1985. Including singer Mike Howe in their ranks from 1986-1988 (before he would go on to join METAL CHURCH for a trio of releases), HERETIC quickly found themselves in the midst of a musical movement that would take the world by storm. "HERETIC opened for so many great bands back in the '80s," recalls Korban. "METALLICA, SAXON, MOTÖRHEAD, THE PLASMATICS, MEGADETH, ARMORED SAINT, RIOT, LIZZY BORDEN, to name a few. I think opening for METALLICA, and winning their crowd over was one of my fondest memories. During our first song, the crowd was chanting 'METALLICA!' louder than we we're playing live. But by the third song, we had their full attention."

It wasn't long before HERETIC was penning hard-hitting thrash tunes, including a pair that sticks out as favorites for the guitarist. "My personal favorites are 'Betrayed' and 'The Search'. 'Betrayed' because it really spotlights every member of the new lineup, and it's fun to play live. 'The Search' is a song I'm proud of for its lyrics. Pretty heavy thought for a young songwriter. They still ring true with all the crazy things going on in the world today."

As Korban stated, there is a new HERETIC lineup, which is comprised of Brian, as well as singer Julian Mendez (who sang with the band in 1986), second guitarist Glenn Rogers, bassist Angelo Espino, and drummer Ignazio Coppola. "We plan to keep recording new music, and play as much as we can," says Rogers. "We want to grow the band and bring it to its rightful place in the world of heavy metal."

Looking back, Mendez explains why he feels Heretic was overlooked by many the first time around. "I think because there were too many lineup changes, and by the time HERETIC was recognized as a national act, the lineup changed again and the grunge scene came into play. Literally killing the scene." But with the band resuscitated in 2011 (after going their separate ways in 1988) and issuing a strong comeback album ("A Time of Crisis") and video ("Blood Will Tell"), HERETIC has big time goals set for the future, according to Espino — "New record, bigger and better shows, world domination!"

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