Heaven Shall Burn celebrates its 30th anniversary with its tenth album.
The band’s origins date back to 1995 under the name B4 the Fall, then Consense, but it was in 1998 that Maik Weichert (guitar), Marcus Bischoff (vocals, Our Loss Is Total), and Eric Bischoff (bass) adopted their current identity. Joined in 2005 by Alexander Dietz (guitar, ex-Hansen & Friends) and in 2013 by Christian Bass (drums, Negativ Null, ex-Der Weg einer Freiheit, ex-Night in Gales), the band unveils Heimat.
The album slowly begins with Ad Arma, a melancholic violin introduction that leads into the epic War Is The Father Of All, where choirs and solid rhythms await us, followed by Marcus‘ roars over aggressive riffs that occasionally offer brief moments of respite. The jerky patterns perfectly convey this heroic charge, laden with melodious leads, before the majestic final that leads to My Revocation Of Compliance, where the approach remains very aggressive, as usual, drawing on more Old School Metalcore and Melodic Death Metal roots. The vindictive parts continue to color the haunting passage before Confounder allows us a brief moment of respite followed by a wave of raw power, but also a few softer moments where only the screams perpetuate the violence. We continue with Empowerment, which is much softer than the previous compositions, but continues to develop its harmonics and devastating drums, while A Whisper From Above reveals a much heavier tone, which joins a rather simple but imposing rhythm. The song easily picks up speed thanks to its drums, offering some rather unifying moments, but Imminence breaks the dynamic with a touch of calm on the violin, followed by Those Left Behind, which brings the aggression back to the forefront, making us bang our heads more vigorously. The band stays on familiar ground with this composition, as they do with Ten Days In May, which features more haunting parts here and there, such as in the catchy choruses. Then, with Jesse Leach (Killswitch Engage), Numbered Days offers us a little gem of old-school metalcore. The track easily becomes one of the most intense when the two vocalists respond to each other, especially towards the end, but Dora takes over with an equally energetic rhythm that doesn’t let up, although it does offer a few brief moments of calm. The album continues in a quiet vein with A Silent Guard and its intoxicating introduction, then picks up momentum with effective riffs that allow for a few melodies influenced by the Swedish scene and even a break before letting Inter Arma bring things to a close by bringing back the violins for one last soothing dance.
Heaven Shall Burn is now on autopilot mode, making Heimat an album just as solid as the rest of their discography. The tracks are catchy, tailor-made for live performances, and their fans will be delighted.
80/100
