Heaven Shall Burn – Of Truth And Sacrifice (Album Review)

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March 16, 2020

Back after three and a half years, Germany’s Heaven Shall Burn return with fresh Metal music on their new album, Of Truth And Sacrifice, slated for release on Friday, March 20, 2020 via Century Media. A milestone release, Of Truth And Sacrifice marks not only Heaven Shall Burns ninth studio effort, but a commanding twenty years since their debut album, Asunder, was released in 2000.

After all this time, Heaven Shall Burn are still going strong performing a mash-up of Extreme/Melodic Death Metal and Deathcore for the buying public. Successfully, Heaven Shall Burn have made a name for themselves in their native Germany and have even made a mark on the U.S. Billboard Heatseekers Album Chart when their 2013 album, Veto, peaked at No. 14. Overall, Heaven Shall Burn have achieved a nice amount of success lead by founding member and Guitarist Maik Weichert. Joining Weichert since Heaven Shall Burn’s 1996 inception, Vocalist Marcus Bischoff, Bassist Eric Bischoff (No, not the pro-wrestling personality). Solidifying their current line-up, Guitarist Alexander Dietz joined in 2005 and Drummer Christian Bass in 2013.

Long-time Heaven Shall Burn fans would know, the band does not rely on extremely fast riffs and screaming alone. No, Heaven Shall Burn’s music can best be described as well balance song structure with the right amount of melody and insanity all wrapped up as one. Dedicated fans will also notice that it has been a while since Heaven Shall Burn’s last album, Wanderer, was released back in September of 2016. Basically, the guys in Heaven Shall Burn needed to turn it down a notch and gave themselves some time to unwind and even better, time to write a lot more music.

In short, Of Truth And Sacrifice is a 2 CD set featuring 19 new songs. In regard to this new material, Weichert explains, “We decided that one album wasn’t good enough, but we wanted to create a double album as a statement. Our goal was a total work of art that people could dive into, something that leaves a lot of room for surprises and experiments. It was only fair to give our fans twice as much after letting them wait for so long. The title is exploring the idea of truth and the question what kind of sacrifices you are willing to make for it.“

On Disc 1, Of Truth And Sacrifice is kicked off by the militaristic intro “March Of Retribution” before the violently forward “Thoughts And Prayers” arrives with piercing Deathcore vocals and a downright forceful heaviness. Next, “Eradicate” seeks to eliminate a race and later “Ubermacht” is a heavily distorted head pounder. Thereafter, “My Heart And The Ocean” will storm any listener with Bass’ overwhelming percussion and Marcus Bischoff’s staggering vocals. More of a storytelling piece than a song, “Expatriate” clocks in at over 8 1/2 minutes beginning with a meditative piano and orchestration by Composer Sven Helbig and Conductor Wilhelm Keitel. One more highlight of Disc 1, “What War Means” is another stand out offering more devastating double bass drums.

Disc 2 offers more crushing Metal as “Children Of A Lesser God” has the most open melody on the album reminiscent of Arch Enemy. The same goes for “Tirpitz” later on. Then, “La Resistance” is a very Electronic and Industrial track while “Stateless” neutralizes a good melody that will mow you down. In under three minutes, “Truther” is a quick destroyer and one of the fastest tracks before the thrashy “Critical Mass.” One more honorable mention. “Eagles Among Vultures” tears everything apart late in the LP with all the dominance anyone could ever want.

In conclusion, the five talented musicians that make up Heaven Shall Burn bring to the table Of Truth And Sacrifice, an album packed with an abundance of brutally heavy music showcasing exactly what Heaven Shall Burn is all about and some pretty cool song titles too. If you are a long time fan of Heaven Shall Burn, or just looking for blistering new music to add to your playlist, then Of Truth And Sacrifice is one you will want to check out. For these reasons, Cryptic Rock gives Of Truth And Sacrifice 4.5 out of 5 stars.