Heaven Shall Burn have been on the radar for quite some time and after having only gave them the ‘look-in’ recently and more out of curiosity than anything you can immediately understand all the hype surrounding the quintet. The Heaven Shall Burn blend of metalcore / Scandanavian style death metal might not be the most inspiring but there’s a feeling they’ve never actually went out of their way to reinvent the wheel. Where these Germans stand out is their sheer brutality and high intensity deliverance.
Veto the band’s latest offering and is no different to their already established tried and tested formula however it probably throws back and showcases the band’s more brutal tendencies. Melodic death is still a strong trait as well as the expected metalcore hallmarks but there’s also a few nods with Veto in the direction of hardcore… subtle but worthy of mention nonetheless.
There’s a good variety on Veto, songs such as ‘Land Of The Upright’ points in the direction of a faster more modern Arch Enemy while songs like ‘Like Gods Among Immortals’ takes a simpler more mid-paced approach. Marcus Bischoff’s vocals throughout have a sterling range and seem to borrow from Sven de Caluwé of Aborted at times, absolutely crushing! In general though… take the best bits from the Century Medias current high fliers and mix them up, what you get essentially is Heaven Shall Burn.
Since bursting into the limelight and scouring the scene in the late 90’s Heaven Shall Burn may only be one of a very select few band’s from the metalcore insurgence you can say are still delivering the biscuits. However, as brutal and impressive as they sound as I listen to Veto, like any past Heaven Shall Burn experience, one can’t imagine much of this album sticking to the ole lugholes.
Crushing, pulverizing and brutal on a listening experience but; the truth is, Veto like ever other Heaven Shall Burn record is fairly uninspiring.
5/10
Andrew Pennington