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Featuring the members Marcus Bischoff, Eric Bischoff, Maik Wiechert, Alexander Dietz and Christian Bass, Heaven Shall Burn first took shape in 1997, immediately diving in to the world of live performance, quickly establishing their sound. Their talent and brutal sound piqued the interest of Deeds of Revolution Records, who released their first EP, “In Battle There is No Law” in 1998. Their debut, “Asunder,” appeared in 2000, after signing to Life-force Records that same year.
European tours and a split EP with Caliban helped to raise the band’s profile, with their 2002 sophomore release, “Whatever It May Take” establishing the band upon the metal and hardcore scene, finding many fans and critical acclaim in the process. The group then signed to Century Media, releasing their next five albums on the label.
With 2006’s “Deaf to Our Prayers,” the band had created their first charting album, reaching number 65 in Germany. They continued to grow in strength and popularity, finding further chart success with their concept albums, 2008’s “Iconoclast (Part One: The Final Resistance)” and 2010’s “Invictus (Iconoclast III)” reaching number 21 and number nine respectively, as well as breaking the Top 40 in several other European countries. 2013’s “Veto” proved Heaven Shall Burn’s popularity was not waning, peaking at number two in the German charts, also breaking into the Top 20 of the US Billboard Heat chart.
The band have been recognised as one of the first metal groups to blur the boundaries between death metal and hardcore, blending the aggression and ferocity of acts such as Bolt Thrower and The Haunted, while carrying the driving spirit of hardcore. Their commitment to political causes is a consistent theme in their music, touching on topics including war, racism, animal welfare and social injustices.
Heaven Shall Burn are a melodic death metal group from Saalfeld, Germany, formed over a decade ago in 1996. The band has a distinctive knack for heavenly guitar riffs and progressions and bloodcurdling vocals from Marcus Bischoff the screaming vocalist, he has such a depth to his voice it wouldn’t be too surprising to see the ground open up and something big and scary appear, it really sounds that big.
Interestingly the band met musician and composer Ólafur Arnalds of whom composed three interludes for the band, consisting of mainly piano and violin, one can also hear a war raging in the background.
Where the band shines in my eyes in their disposition towards accessible metal whilst lyrically covering so called high brow issues, within a socially conscious light, such as Nietzsche’s ‘God is dead’ philosophy, Laicism and the German Resistance in WW2, along with the Germany’s struggle to deal with its past. The sound on the night was spot-on and the pit opened in the middle, demanding the energy of the crowd, a Catherine wheel of people started spinning excitedly. Both the bassist and guitarist held epic full power stances for the majority of the set, and made their instrument handling look like child's play, the power and buzz that the band brought with them was tantalising and way more than I expected.
nicky-preston
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