Metal Underground.com

Heaven Shall Burn was formed in Germany in autumn 1996, under the name Consense. With the recording of their second demo in early 1997 the band changed their name to Heaven Shall Burn. After working on material for some time, their first full length CD, “Asunder," was released in April 2000. Heaven Shall Burn is comprised of Marcus Bischoff (vocals), Alexander Dietz (guitar), Mail Weichert (guitar), Eric Bischoff (bass), and Matthias Voist (drums).

"Awoken" opens with restrained, melodic piano and strings which shortly give way to the driving drums and shouted vocals of "Endzeit." "Like a Thousand Suns" continues in the same vein. Heaven Shall Burn displays real hardcore credibility, especially in the vocals, while stirring in a liberal helping of Gothenburg-styled metal.

There's a repetitiveness which sometimes makes it hard to distinguish one song from the next. The vocals are quite prominent in the mix, as are the drums and guitars, while the bass is practically non-existent. Unlike some of their American metalcore brethren, it is usually possible to discern the lyrics, which added to my enjoyment of this release.

There's an interesting tempo change about two-thirds of the way into "Dying Ember,” which helped keep the song from becoming boring. There's also a pretty nice breakdown halfway through "Joel," after which they slow the tempo down before speeding it back up. All in all, it's a very enjoyable track. The rest of the CD continues in the same vein. The guitars are nice and crunchy with plenty of mosh-worthy riffs and breakdowns.

This CD is a decent offering which mixes hardcore and metal influences quite well. In my opinion, it's much better than the standard metalcore fare you hear these days. And at 58 minutes, it's a good bargain. There's no lack of talent in this band and I look forward to hearing future releases.