Germany’s Heaven Shall Burn have been running for a long while, with their latest album Heimat being their tenth album. To be honest, I’ve heard the name around a long time, but I have never sat down and listened to a full album.
My first thought is that I probably should have been listening to those previous albums. While they’re certainly not doing any reinventing, there are sprinklings of Machine Head, bits of At The Gates influence and a large dose of Unearth in the mix. The band’s sound lies somewhere between the traditional metalcore, leaning towards some melodeath.
The album opens and closes with string arrangements, with a middle instrumental track titled “Imminence”, which may be a reference to upcoming visitors to Australian shores, Imminence and their track “Heaven Shall Burn”.
The album gets to business directly after the strings section with “War is the Father of All”, opening with a choral overlay over the top of some steady riffing. This may be overdone but builds well into the opening of the album. While there are minimal singing parts, the band switches up between heavy and melodious parts throughout both this song and the rest of the album.
The song itself refers to the ongoing war in Ukraine and has assistance from a choir of Ukrainian musicians.
The drums impress throughout the album, with Christian Bass keeping a consistent blast throughout proceedings. Animal protection anthem “My Revocation of Compliance” comes next as is the most traditional metalcore of all the tracks, and should have you moshing in your living room.
The album takes its name from “Heimat”, the German word for homeland. According to guitarist Mark Weichert, “Heimat is not meant as the narrow-minded end point in the sense it has been used by agitators and populists, but the starting point for observations and perspectives. The album is about a much wider sense of the term ‘Heimat’: the homelands for many different people and also about the spiritual home, something that shapes and determines our thoughts and actions.”
“Empowerment” takes on more of a rock ‘n’ roll groove before getting straight into the hard business that the band is known for. “A Whisper From Above” starts lightly, but once it gets going, listeners will certainly be headbanging, with Marcus Bischoff leading with his commanding growl and the rest of the band keeping up to speed.
Things slow down with the instrumental “Imminence”, with the band once again teaming up with the Mondëna Quartet. Things kick back into the heavy gear with “Those Left Behind” then “Ten Days in May” shows some impressive guitar skills from Weichert and Alexander Dietz.
When looking at the track listing before listening, I noticed the track “Numbered Days” and thought maybe that’s a Killswitch Engage reference. Much more than a reference, it’s a cover, and it’s got Jesse Leach on it. Like Silverchair bringing in Deniz Tek to play guitar on their cover of “New Race”, sometimes the best covers have the original players in position, and I feel some of the change between screaming and melody that are in the signature Killswitch Engage sound could enhance the Heaven Shall Burn sound.
In the end, this is a nod to probably the most important metalcore album. It’s a bit hard to follow up from this classic, but in “Dora”, which I imagine is not related to the famed explorer, the band hits their stride. Focused growls, blasting drums, building guitars, all of the elements of the band are in focus during this song.
“A Silent Guard” is a little longer than most tracks on the album, with some meandering guitar work and the choir in the background before we once again get into business. Things close up with another instrumental piece in “Inter Arma”.
Some versions come with some extra tracks, including the team-up with Donots for punk rock anthem “Keinen Schritt Zurück”.
Since the album has come out, singer Marcus Bischoff has been plagued by various issues, including a neck injury that forced the band off stage at the famous Rock Am Ring after their first song. This turned out to be an infection, which has forced him out of some recent performances with Britta Görtz (Hiraes) filling the position while Bischoff recovers.
Heaven Shall Burn: Facebook
Release Year: 2025
Label: Century Media
Category: Album
Country: Germany
Reviewed by Daniel Boyle
