Let’s begin. HEAVEN SHALL BURN are kind of a ‘go-to’ response for the melodic death metal/metalcore sound; with a past of 18 years and 7 albums, they have become a value keeping their recipe musical formula of tight riffing full of edges, drumming that can blow someone’s mind and also the vocals that come straight out a hellish world.
That being said, the new album launches with “The Loss of Fury” which eases the way into the album but still proving that the Germans make no jokes about their melody and fury combination. “Bring the War Home” proves Markus Bischoff’s throat capabilities and “Passage of the Crane” yields IN FLAMES memories with its cold melodies and flaming hot death metal riffing. Up until this point of the album, it is clear that HEAVEN SHALL BURN do not stray from their signature sound but they instead keep polishing it, satisfying the audience.
More ferocious “Downshifter” picks up the pace making us want to run like hell towards redeeming while “Prey to God” is the successor, equally aggressive and overflowing with battle-like emotions. Some Invictus elements pertaining purer melodies are reflected in “Save Me”.
And for the last track of the album, “The Cry of Mankind” was a masterful idea – I really enjoyed listening to HSB covering the doom legends MY DYING BRIDE in such a gracious way however maintaining their own line and identity yet producing an elegant alternative to one of the doom classics with the surprise of Sólstafir‘s Aðalbjörn Tryggvason on the clean vocals to complete this beautiful result.
“Wanderer” is an illustration of HEAVEN SHALL BURN’s long history summarized in one with a more refined sense of structure, mirroring the qualities and characteristics which originally made them stand out.
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