HSB's most powerful album to date
Perfect Darkness | Concord, NC | 06/18/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I'll start off by saying this is by-far HSB's finest recording. Having every record they have released: Asunder, In Battle, There is No Law, Whatever It May Take (original & rerelease), AntiGone, Deaf to Our Prayers, Iconoclast, and now Invictus. No I do not own the dvd yet, only becuase I do not have the time to really sit and enjoy it. As most of these reviews state..the referr to HSB as "deathcore" I really hate this classification. I just referr to it as "metal" I mean..whats next "blackcore" being subbed for black metal. Being a fan of all types of metal I reserve the right to say this. When I first got a DLed version of this album I was blown away by how much stronger this band has gotten, their previous works were insane, but this is the most powerful album since "Deaf" in terms of music. Lyrically, this is the tippy-top of amazing lyrics. Every song has such as strong message. I was critized today because a co-worker saw that the band I was listening to was called "Heaven Shall Burn" and automatically assumed it was satanic...I cant think of one song by these guys that is even remotely satanic. If you want satanic metal go buy Gorgoroth. Mind you that I am a huge black metal fan, but sometimes you want to hear something different and "Invictus" is just that record to fill the void. 10/10"
The heart of deathcore
misha2707 | 06/11/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been a fan of Heaven Shall Burn since picking up the re-release of Whatever it May Take. Iconoclast blew me away, so I had huge expecations for Invictus. It did not disappoint.
Heaven Shall Burn show that deathcore still has a viable edge in at least one regard. They are one of Germany's best bands, in my opinion.
Instrumentation is so tight with this album that you can't pick at it, but the little dance beat in one of the songs had me scratching my head. The guest vocals form Deadlock's Sabine Weineger seemed a little bit misplaced, but it wasn't enough to shed a whole star.
This review is a little short, but that is because it is so good. Heavy and excellent. Go buy it! Invictus gets 4.5/5 heart-shaped stars."
A Great Followup To Iconoclast
Michael | FL United States | 06/11/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Back in 2008, Heaven Shall Burn put out Iconoclast (Part 1: The Final Resistance), a concept album with subjects like World War II and Laicism among others with each song related to, you guessed it, the Iconoclast. Part 2 was in the form of the band's live cd/dvd Bildersturm, which came out last year. How that continued the story with it being a live release, I have no clue. But here we now have Invictus, the third chapter in the Iconoclast trilogy, and quite possibly the best album yet. Well, right now for me, it is. I'm not totally familiar with the story, but I know Iconoclasm, so I have a good idea. The lyrics help paint the picture if you have no idea. One of the standout tracks for me is "Given In death," which if I'm not mistaken, is the band's first song with guest female vocals since "The Dream Is Dead" from Antigone. Both tracks are probably the most different songs the band's ever done due to the addition of clean vocals, which you rarely hear in their music. If you're a fan, I'm sure you've already picked this up. If you haven't, buy it."
Track Listings (12) - Disc #1
