Nine albums into a two-and-a-half-decade career, German metalcore mavens Heaven Shall Burn turn in their most ambitious project to date. Of Truth & Sacrifice is a double-length, 19-track, 97-minute epic. The set is divided into halves by the title's four words. Four years after The Wanderer and a long two-year hiatus, Heaven Shall Burn sound recharged, ambitious, angry, confused at the state of the world, and musically restless.
While the "Of Truth" half of the equation is more consistent and powerful, it's not as wide-ranging as "And Sacrifice", which is a good or bad thing depending on your taste. The first disc sticks close to the band's melodic metalcore roots. "Thoughts and Prayers" is a savage indictment of gun control policy and an industry that pursues profit no matter the cost to victims. It's driven by twinned-lead riffs from guitarists Maik Reichert and Alexander Dietz, while singer Markus Bischoff is as visceral as ever, delivering pointed lyrics with venomous rage amid Christian Bass' roiling blastbeats. "Eradicate" forsakes melody in favor of driving razor-wire riffs and punishing blasts, though the band harness it briefly to offer a momentous chorus. While the nearly nine-minute "Eradicate" might have been better served by inclusion on the album's second half, it's compelling, with subtle, sampled percussion, chiming, blissed-out guitars, and atmospheric piano and strings. It unfurls as proggy melodic death metal before alternating sequences like a suite. "What War Means" is pure, insane power and grinding chug, indicting global governments for their inability to resist armed conflict.
"And Sacrifice" proves dizzying in its ambition, even with a couple of missteps. Opener "Children of a Lesser God," begins as a metalcore anthem but halfway through travels afield into proggy alt metal, complete with orchestral overlays. "La Resistance" is industrial disco frantically channeling early Nitzer Ebb and mid-period Killing Joke, along with killer guitar solos and drum loops. "The Sorrows Victory," features a guest spot from Land of the Lost singer and guitarist Chris Harms delivering his best Peter Murphy-esque vocal alongside Bischoff's filthy roar. The rest is a majestic sprawl that nods at the influence of My Dying Bride while waves of blackened death metal scree and symphonic excess flit through the foreground. "Stateless," "Truther", "Tirpitz," and "Eagles Among Vultures" all offer prime examples of Heaven Shall Burn at their potent, paint-peeling best, with crunchy drums, detuned riffs, and brutal choruses. Closer "Weakness Leaving My Heart" commences as a funereal dirge that evolves into something the modern Ulver might attempt. Pianos, synths, orchestral strings, ambient sonics, and a processional pace introduce Bischoff's growl atop power chords and serpentine lead lines before the track concludes with a brutal, doomy majesty. Despite its unwieldy length, Of Truth & Sacrifice gloriously illuminates Heaven Shall Burn's horizon-to-horizon vision; it should be granted a lofty place in the band's discography.