Wow, this one came down on me like a swarm of avenging angels!

I read the extremely positive review of ‘Iconoclasts’ in the German RockHard magazine, but you always take reviews with a grain of salt until you’ve heard for yourself, don’t you?

But here I sit, in a hotel room in Manchester, listening to this album for the fifteenth time, and I’m still stunned by the sheer brutally and power these Germans have forced into this tiny polycarbonate plastic disc!

I remember being really impressed by Heaven Shall Burn’s previous CD, ‘Deaf to Our Prayers’, from 2006, but this one truly hits home. Like their kinsmen in Maroon, Heaven Shall Burn understand to set themselves apart from the rest of the metalcore bands by adding their own, unique touch – much of that touch shown via their references to the history of metal and by not being afraid to bring in other sources of inspiration like e.g. techno beats (the track Murderers of All Murderers). Otherwise there are references to Carcass (Like a Thousand Suns), Amorphis (the theme riff of Black Tears) and the past twenty or thirty years of heavy metal harmonies and thrash/death metal.

Vocalist Marcus Bischoff is a chapter all by himself on this release, and more so than on ‘Deaf to Our Prayers’. Unstoppable, uncompromising, relentless – over the top from beginning to end.

And not only that: when you read the liner notes on the CD extra, you actually get the feeling that there is some thought put into the lyrics and that they have something to say with this. Me likes.

A huge thumbs up! This is a kick in the face I can only recommend…visit the band's MySpace page and watch the video for Endzeit - I think you'll be convinced just as I was.