HEAVEN SHALL BURN Invictus CD (2010)

German melodic death metal has produced more than its share of world-class acts, and Heaven Shall Burn sit comfortably at the top of that pile, whether the mainstream noticed or not.

Invictus, released in 2010, is the Erfurt five-piece operating with total conviction. Melodic death metal and metalcore rarely coexist this well, all churning riffs and dual vocal interplay underpinned by genuine songwriting rather than genre box-ticking. There's political weight here too, the band have never been shy about it, which gives the album a sense of purpose that a lot of their peers couldn't match. If Arch Enemy or Darkest Hour are in your collection and you somehow missed this one, that's an oversight worth fixing today.

Full-length album on CD, 2010 release. German pressing.

Fans of: Shadows Fall, Darkest Hour, Arch Enemy, Kataklysm, The Agonist