Heaven Shall Burn - Iconoclast (Part1: The Final Resistance)

Does Heaven Shall Burn still need an introduction? I don’t think so. These German guys have been around for a couple of years now and they released some great records and played all over the world. During touring they felt a creative rush from the amazing reactions at these shows. Because of these overwhelming reactions the band couldn’t wait another 2 years to release their next album, so a little bit more than a year after Deaf To Our Prayers they present to you Iconoclast (Part1: The Final Resistance).

The creative rush of Heaven Shall Burn resulted in a concept album with a story about warriors, but not just about ordinary warriors. This album is about the Iconoclasts. The Iconoclasts are warriors who are sent to judge and destroy the murderers of god. God is dead and the only thing that’s left is to take revenge for his murder. “Each song tells a story that is rooted in reality. However, all songs are linked with an overall story about a cast of warriors called ‘Iconoclasts’,” states guitarist Maik Weichert. The ‘Iconoclast Synopsis’ tells the whole story and can be read by checking out the CD enhancement.

After reading all the information about this CD it was time to listen to the music itself. This record kicks off with a beautiful piano and strings intro, which reminds me a bit of the opener of the Antigone album. After ‘Awoken’ the band destroys everything with the crushing ‘Endzeit’. This song represents the whole album quite well. This song is fast, aggressive and typical Heaven Shall Burn. With the melodic guitar riffs and brutal voice of Marcus Bischoff Iconoclast is the logical sequel to Deaf To Our Prayers. Some fans might be disappointed that they haven’t actually done something new, but I’m not one of them.

Besides the whole concept there are two songs on this album which aren’t part of it, namely the Edge Of Sanity cover ‘Black Tears’ and the track ‘Atonement’. ‘Black Tears’ is a good and heavy cover, but unfortunately they left the solo out. ‘Atonement’ is the closing track of the album and that’s a bit strange, because this instrumental track is after the outro and it just doesn’t add something. Don’t get me wrong: it’s a great song, but it shouldn’t have been there. 

It is too bad that we at Metalrage only received a promo version of this album, so I had to buy this record to see the bonus DVD and the booklet. Luckily enough it wasn’t wasted money, because the DVD is a nice bonus. The DVD consists of their whole Wacken Open Air 2007 performance, the ‘Counterweight’ video clip and a photo gallery. Furthermore it is possible that you don’t like the metalcore Heaven Shall Burn plays, but even then you should buy this album anyway. The reason why is the artwork; Bastian Sobtzick’s drawings are amazing! It still is a matter of taste, but I recommend this piece of art to everybody. This is truly worth your money.