 
I still declare to this day that Heaven Shall
Burn are the 2nd best musical import Germany has
ever had to offer, falling just short of Rammstein
for the number one spot (hell depending what day
you ask me, HSB sometimes edge them out for the
number 1 spot). First clocked hold of these guys
when they released their split EP with fellow
German metal band Caliban a very long time ago
and I’ve been hooked ever since; finally
living my dream of seeing them perform supporting
As I Lay Dying a few years ago and at long last
in 2012 by sheer chance along got to see them
perform a UK headline set when British act Rise
To Remain had to cancel the Reading date of their
tour at which HSB were the main support when they
went ahead with the show and bumped themselves
up to an hour and a half headline set. Anyway
enough of my little fan boy stories there are
pressing matters at hand here; previous album
“Invictus” was an absolute diamond
within the already outstanding back catalogue
of these sheer brutal attack on the ear drums
which pushes through this irresistible urge to
pull an angry face bearing my teeth and bang my
head so aggressively it may one day reach my private
area, a place which ones face should never be.
This album starts off in true to form fashion
with “Godiva”; a beautiful sounding
little clean riff that reels off into a gradual
transition of distortion and power, the beautiful
of HSB’s distinctive style is they are able
to have this ridiculous speed and aggression with
their drumming and guitar work but also have an
overlaying low tempo melodic riff flowing through
each song because it takes a very talented act
to make that fit. Also it is a great thing to
see that they remember where they come from by
writing a song in full German (“Die Sturme
Rufen Dich”) which after ploughing through
their back catalogue seems to be a first for them.
Going to take time to now mention their cover
of Blind Guardian’s “Valhalla”
which makes for a decent listen as they’ve
managed to well adapt it to become one of their
own like they’ve done countless times before
(most successful of which being “Black Tears”
by Edge of Sanity) but it is nowhere near as strong
as their own material. You can say that it follows
on from “Invictus” as more of the
same but in another sense you can’t as it’s
got similar structures and writing styles but
there is experimentation with lower tempo songs
like “You Will Be Godless” and “Beyond
Redemption” as they are musicians after
all and all enterprising musicians love experimentation
and furthering their ability.
So there you have it, another exceptional album
by a consistently extraordinary act and I cannot
flaw it, whilst the cover song may be lesser than
the other tracks its still a great tune to check
out. I meant that I don’t have a single
critique on the record as I think they’ve
found their core sound and stuck to it for a very
long time, adding and subtracting small merits
here and there to keep it fresh and entertaining.
Definitely another candidate for album of the
year here and I think I will still be rearranging
my face by the time I post my top 10 in December,
nice job lads or should I say fantastische arbeitauf
denneuen rekordwertjungs!
5/5
Review by James Webb
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