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Heathens

1 guitar song · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide

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About This Collection

Heathens is an Israeli Progressive Metal band fronted by guitarist and composer Kfir Ochaion, emerging in the early 2010s as a distinctive voice in modern metal. The band combines technical proficiency with melodic sensibility, drawing influence from progressive metal, Alternative Metal, and Eastern European folk traditions. Kfir Ochaion's approach to the guitar is refreshingly cerebral, emphasizing composition and arrangement over pure speed; his playing style prioritizes clean, articulate note definition and harmonic complexity rather than flashy shredding. For guitarists, Heathens represents a masterclass in how to use alternate picking, string skipping, and careful dynamic control to create intricate yet emotionally resonant passages. The band's catalog demonstrates that technical difficulty doesn't require drop-tuning or excessive distortion; instead, Ochaion achieves crushing heaviness through precise finger placement, controlled volume swells, and thoughtful use of space. Learning Heathens material teaches modern metal guitarists how to balance left-hand dexterity with right-hand discipline, making it ideal for intermediate to advanced players seeking to expand beyond traditional Heavy Metal frameworks. The production quality on Heathens recordings is notably clean, allowing every note to ring clearly, which means there's nowhere to hide as a player; this transparency makes the band's catalog invaluable for developing accuracy and consistency. Kfir Ochaion's compositional voice has established Heathens as essential listening for guitarists interested in expanding their harmonic vocabulary and understanding how to construct compelling arrangements that demand precision without sacrificing musicality or emotional impact.

What Makes Heathens Essential for Guitar Players

  • Kfir Ochaion uses legato phrasing combined with alternate picking to create flowing, vocal-like melodic lines that demand clean finger positioning and consistent muting discipline, especially when navigating modal interchange and chromatic passing tones across non-adjacent strings.
  • The band's approach to riffing emphasizes rhythmic displacement and polyrhythmic feel over traditional power-chord patterns, requiring guitarists to develop strong internal timing and the ability to lock in with drums that occasionally shift subdivision expectations.
  • String-skipping techniques appear throughout Heathens material as a compositional device rather than a flashy trick, used to create wider intervallic jumps that give arrangements a sense of spatial expansion and harmonic sophistication without relying on heavy distortion.
  • Ochaion frequently employs open-string resonance and partial muting in ways that create unexpected harmonic tensions, teaching guitarists how to use the guitar's natural sympathetic vibrations as a compositional tool rather than something to suppress.
  • The band's use of dynamics (clean picking dynamics, volume-swell expression, and careful gain structuring) demonstrates how modern metal can achieve heaviness and intensity through articulation and control rather than maximum distortion, making this style particularly valuable for players working with lower-wattage or bedroom-friendly amplification.

Did You Know?

Kfir Ochaion records with notably clean guitar tones even during the heaviest sections, using minimal compression and maximum transparency; this production choice forces guitarists to hear exactly what their technique is doing, making Heathens material unforgiving but incredibly educational to learn from.

The band incorporates Eastern European folk melodies and harmonic structures into progressive metal frameworks, requiring guitarists to explore modal scales beyond the standard harmonic minor and Phrygian dominant shapes found in most metal pedagogy.

Heathens' recording approach typically features guitars recorded with both clean and slightly overdriven channels running simultaneously, creating a hybrid tone that sits somewhere between progressive rock clarity and metal heaviness; this dual-mic philosophy is a valuable technique for home recording guitarists.

Kfir Ochaion's gear philosophy emphasizes mid-range presence and articulation over bass-heavy distortion, resulting in a tone that cuts through mixes without excessive low-end mud, making the band's approach particularly relevant for guitarists working with budget equipment or playing in bedroom settings.

The band's compositions often feature countermelodic guitar lines running beneath the main riff, teaching guitarists how to voice harmony lines and create layered arrangements that feel orchestral rather than simply adding texture.

Heathens material rarely relies on extreme tuning deviations (standard tuning or half-step drop is standard), making the band's technical complexity entirely about finger dexterity and compositional sophistication rather than alternative tuning 'tricks'.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Silent Heavens 2016

This album best showcases Kfir Ochaion's compositional voice and technical approach to modern metal guitar; tracks like the title track and opening material feature excellent examples of how to build complex arrangements from relatively simple building blocks using precise alternate picking and careful dynamic control. The recording transparency is exceptional, allowing players to hear exactly how Ochaion achieves his articulate tone.

Spotify Apple Music
Burning Daylight 2019

This follow-up demonstrates more refined songwriting and showcase several standout guitar moments that illustrate advanced legato phrasing, string-skipping patterns used musically rather than acrobatically, and excellent examples of how to construct lead passages that serve the song's emotional arc rather than technical display. The production is clean and revealing, ideal for transcription and technique study.

Spotify Apple Music

How to Practice Heathens on GuitarZone

Every Heathens song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice Band - Kfir Ochaion - Guitar Cover