Review: Heaven Shall Burn – Heimat

June 30, 2025

645

Still the Final Resistance

For over 20 years, Heaven Shall Burn from Germany have been a recurring name in the European scene. Their blend of metalcore and melodic death metal with a rebellious fury has been, for me, one of the better bands in that area for quite some time. They’ve had their big highs with such releases as Antigone and Iconoclast, as well as the odd miss with Wanderer from 2016. After a return to good form with the double album, Of Truth & Sacrifice, they are now on their 10th release with Heimat.

Following an orchestral introduction with “Ad Arma” that gives me nostalgic Iconoclast vibes, “War is the Father of All” starts up in a very orchestral manner but makes for an interesting and melodic opener. The next track and first single that was released, “My Revocation of Compliance” is your typical by-the-numbers fare with this band; it’s okay but not one that I’d remember this release for personally. However, “Confounder” is a much better song that hits the spots that I enjoy whenever I listen to Heaven Shall Burn; I really enjoy the intro to the track that mixes the synths and palm-mutes nicely.

Continuing the momentum is “Empowerment,” a very fun, catchy and energetic number. It really executes the nice and majestic dual guitar leads that I always enjoy hearing with Heaven Shall Burn; they just know how to master the execution of those parts. “A Whisper from Above” is another heavy hitter that leads into an orchestral instrumental interlude, “Imminence.” “Those Left Behind” is a decent catchy track that had a nice climatic ending to it. One of the stronger tracks on this album for me has been “Ten Days in May,” with aggressive riffs and very cool melodies as well as a pretty sick guitar solo thrown in as well. It’s trademark Heaven Shall Burn at its finest.

One of the other traditions in this band’s discography is the random cover, whether it’s Edge of Sanity’s “Black Tears” on Iconoclast, Blind Guardian’s “Valhalla” on Veto or “Nowhere” from Therapy? on Invictus. This time around it’s “Numbered Days” from Killswitch Engage which is a nicely done cover and even has Jesse Leach himself involved.

“Dora” is another well-executed, aggressive track containing a strong drumming performance; it also has some catchy moments and I like how hard the dual leads hit on this one. “A Silent Guard” really thrives in its epic and triumphant vibes that makes for a divine track—probably my overall favorite track on Heimat. Honestly, that track should have probably closed off the album, as it ends with a 3+minute orchestral outro “Inter Arma,” which feels pretty unnecessary.

Overall, while it’s not really pushing boundaries, Heimat ended up being another good album in the band’s discography. This is despite some of its shortcomings like a couple tracks not hitting as much and the length of the album didn’t need to be that long. The band just knows how to execute and blend their own sound of metalcore and melodic death metal together consistently; this is no different here. It has the metalcore style of aggression mixed with the melodic riffing and majestic guitar leads that make melodic death metal fun. It’s more of the same and while I don’t see this one being as memorable as Iconoclast, it’s not their worst either as I’d rather listen to this album over Wanderer for example. If you’re not into Heaven Shall Burn, this won’t change your mind but for the people that have enjoyed their discography, you’ll likely have a good time with this one as well.