•
Rating: "Sing to me, O goddess, the fatal wrath of the Teutonic Heaven Shall Burn..."
This is my invocation addressed, after listening to the previous "Deaf To Our Prayers," to the Gods of Metalcore, who, no longer "deaf to our prayers," have finally granted our wishes by delivering this new "Iconoclast (Part 1: The final resistance)," a sort of concept album narrating the story of the Iconoclasts, an elite group of 123 warriors called to avenge the death of God.
Musically speaking, the newcomer presents itself as an ideal crossroads between the more melodic sounds of "Antigone" and the frontal assault of the aforementioned "Deaf to our Prayers", confirming the German quintet's ability to blend classic metal (Bolt Thrower, At The Gates) and modern (Hatebreed, Killswitch Engage) into a searing flow of metalcore that fears no rivals, as reiterated with this fifth full-length.
After the brief and dark intro "Awoken", it's the explosive (see also the related video) "Endzeit" that opens, in the best tradition of HSB, the usual dances: in this case, however, rather than "dances," it would be more appropriate to speak of wild pogo and collective carnage, given that the wall of sound the unwary listener will face has the same effect as the proverbial shovel hit to the gums...
Next, we find "Like A Thousands Suns", another killer song to be counted among the album's highlights where one can appreciate a riffing worthy of vintage Michael Ammott and the excellent work on skins and cymbals by drummer Matthias Voigt, a true war machine who confirms himself on this occasion as one of the best drummers on the scene.
To beautifully close an initial triptych of those "to make veins and pulses tremble," here comes the martial "Murder Of All Murderers": if at the beginning some industrial style references are discernible, as the piece unfolds we then find the usual tight riffing of the award-winning Dietz-Weichert pair, who also on this occasion confirm themselves in the (excellent) roles of producers at their Rape Of Harmonies Studios (mixing powered by Tue Madsen).
After such a high-caliber opening triplet, it was almost inevitable to expect a drop in compositional quality in the remaining tracks, yet the band continues its devastating advance with the power of a panzer destined to wipe out the competition: the insane melodies of "Forlorn Skies", the more rarefied and melancholic atmospheres of "A Dying Ember" and "Joel" (the latter featuring an unusual vaguely doom interlude) quickly follow until reaching the in-your-face "A Quest For Resistance".
Special mention goes to the remarkable cover of Edge Of Sanity "Black Tears" whose particularly catchy riffing allows for a slight release of tension (in the meantime, thanks also to the average long duration of the pieces, reaching near saturation levels) before restarting with the poignant "The Bombs Of My Saviours", followed by another piece rich in pathos like "Against All Lies".
The album closes with the fierce and concise "The Disease", a true final blow before the outro "Equinox" and the instrumental "Atonement" officially declare the end of hostilities, at least for this first chapter: for the lucky owners of the limited edition in digibook (or perhaps I should better say for the few enthusiasts like myself who still love to buy albums...) there is also the opportunity to enjoy, in addition to a particularly curated artwork and booklet, a bonus DVD containing a show at Wacken 2007.
Awaiting the inevitable "Part 2," we can thus enjoy yet another masterpiece by Heaven Shall Burn, which confirms, if there was still any need, the Teutonic combo as one of the few "iron pots" among the many "clay pots" of the Central European metalcore scene.
Loading comments slowly
