According to Germany’s Heaven Shall Burn it’s payback time. “Iconoclasts are warriors who are sent to judge and destroy the murderers of God,” explains guitarist Maik Weichert. Wikipedia, on the other hand, makes us remember that iconoclasm is all about the fierce annihilation of all of a former culture’s symbols when a new one comes in. So - be prepared for a savage unmasking of all kinds of flaws in today’s society, with the suitable uncompromising soundtrack playing along. The music that starts to pour over the listener right from the album’s beginning isn’t really something outside of the box Heaven Shall Burn have been in since “Antigone” (2004). Since it’s very start this band has always been a fine example of the total metalization of hardcore. There’s no doubt the music is pure death metal. And that the attitude towards the scene, the messages about veganism, anti-rasism and just making a stand on key issues, it totally hardcore - no doubt either. Neither the melodic piano and violins intro, nor the death metal bombardment that follows from “Endzeit” and on are really a big surprise. At the same time, the album offers enough diversity in order to keep the listeners’ attention. There are moments where the more melodic side of death metal takes top that are more frequent than on previous albums. “Black Tears” for example sounds like something off In Flames’ better days. The production quality is the perfection you’d expect from Germans. It’s the big Tue Madesn in charge again, as he was to blame for the previous massacre, “Deaf to Our Prayers”, too. The sound is actually quite the same. As is the album as a whole. But when you’ve set the bar so high you’re your previous work, staying on the same level is kind of an achievement. Heaven Shall Burn have succeeded here, so I wish you having a good time listening to the album while destroying the old world!