Nope, HEATHEN never have been in a hurry to release an album. But, to be fair, most of the time in the nineties, HEATHEN were split so that it took almost twenty years for the comeback album The Evolution Of Chaos. For Empire Of The Blind the Bay Area veterans at least were twice as fast and needed only one decade.
Okay, all jokes aside. Empire Of The Blind was actually meant to be released way earlier. But extensive touring in Exodus kept Lee Altus and Kragen Lum (who was replacing Gary Holt when he was playing with Slayer) away from HEATHEN and interrupted the writing and recording process always again. So it happened that Kragen Lum wrote The Evolution Of Chaos almost alone, which is usually the métier of Lee Altus. Did that effect the sound of HEATHEN? I would say, yes, it did.

Empire Of The Blind is straighter and catchier. Complex and progressive guitar wizardry, as one would expect from Lee Altus, can hardly be found. The production is modern, crispy and pace rather moderate compared to the predecessor. That might make Empire Of The Blind sound a bit like any. But this new piece of music does not miss power and passion. There is more groove and thrash and a twist towards power metal. Just listen to the title track. I feel a bit reminded of Swedish band Morgana Lefay. Nothing I would like to complain about.
Of course, there are still racy passages yet the band focuses on driving and melodic mid-tempo smashers such as Blight, the stirring Sun In My Hand and Devour. But HEATHEN also open up to epic wideness as in Shrine Of Apathy.
Great twin guitar melodies, nifty guitar solos (here, both of them do their magic) and sing along refrains round up the record. The voice of David White became a bit deeper and rougher but still fits the music perfectly.

Summing up, HEATHEN have done everything right. Empire Of The Blind is absolutely an enjoyable album that delivers a great atmosphere as well as profound lyrics of actual topics. Tracks harmonize and despite the long and interrupted writing and recording process, the album sound like all of a piece. Though… fans from the band's early days will surely miss the special character and progressive touched Speed Metal of the first both records Breaking The Silence and Victims Of Deception. These times have gone for good. That does not make Empire Of The Blind a bad record. Not at all. HEATHEN 2020 just sound different. Probably not (yet) that original but I'm sure, they will carve their own niche again. To curry favor with the Bay Area Thrash heroes they, on the other hand, lack of aggressiveness. 
Oh, by the way, next to former HEATHEN guitarist Doug Piercy, also Gary Holt and Rick Hunolt of Exodus contribute to the instrumental A Fine Red Mist.