Heaven Shall Burn Connect The Political With The Philosophical
Wednesday March 19, 2008 @ 04:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Heaven Shall Burn

These days, calling a new album a "concept record" is begging to get your ass thrown on the 4:15 get-outta-town pretentious bus. A collection of songs with one consistent theme, drawn-out tracks and numbing instrumental passages are generally reserved for dinosaur-ish progressive rock bands and Coheed And Cambria.

However, thanks to the succinct delivery of hammering guitar riffs and rumbling drums on their latest album, Iconoclast (Part 1: The Final Resistance), German thrash/death metallers Heaven Shall Burn may have a strong hand in reclaiming the concept album. Until the phrase is widely accepted, though, vocalist Marcus Bischoff is still wary.

"Iconoclast features certain topics that connect with each other, but it's not like a Pink Floyd album with a big approach," he says. "We have a principle around the songs that connect everything: a fantasy story that connects reality lyrics."

Typically revered for their no-nonsense political statements and relentless metallic prowess, Heaven Shall Burn (Bischoff, brother and bassist Eric Bischoff, guitarists Alexander Dietz and Maik Weichert and drummer Matthias Voigt) have taken a unique turn with Iconoclast. By incorporating elements of fantasy and reality on songs such as "Murderers Of All Murderers," "A Dying Ember" and "A Quest For Resistance," Bischoff hopes the album both diversifies their message and reinvigorates their overall attack.

"There are two things we had in mind. First, we wanted to offer something new on an artistic level. We are very political and our lyrics have a lot of reality. We didn't want to become boring, but still wanted that political element. This time, we added a fantasy level to add a new dimension: a philosophical approach. The second thing was to have the strong issue of political and religious power in modern nations. By that, we divided the album into two levels: political and philosophical. It sounds artsy-fartsy, but I thought it was a good idea."

It all balances incredibly well. Iconoclast's fantasy side softens the harsh political edge, while the realistic portions add weight to the typically fluffy fantasy. Bischoff notes that such a massive debate on politics and religion couldn't possibly have been tackled on one release, though. It could have easily become a triple-album, something even the most zealous metalheads would be hard-pressed to swallow. Saving some fundamentals for Iconoclast's eventual follow-up, he forewarns fans to expect more of the same.

"We didn't want to become the metal Rage Against The Machine. The ideas we stand for… if they're not in your heart and are just an image, it's already too late. I like stepping up to the philosophical level. If people like it, they can spend time learning about what we've said. But at the same time, party metal fans can enjoy the music. I had a lot of ideas that didn't make it onto this record, so that's why this is Part I and the rest of the ideas will probably come out on the second part."

—Keith Carman