Heaven Shall Burn – VETO

Release: 22/04/2013
Label: Century Media

The tale of Lady Godiva might not immediately ring a bell. The legend tells that this 11th century noble women rode the streets of the English town Conventry naked. In this way, she wanted to force her husband to lift the imposed taxes on this tenants. This makes her a perfect icon for the seventh album of Heaven Shall Burn, VETO.

For those unfamiliar with Heaven Shall Burn: This German band battle against social injustice and their songs are critical about politics. For example, the song You Will Be Godless, is a protest against the Catholic church and Hunters Will Be Hunted displays the musicians support for Sea Shepherd.
Their message is disguised in the form of metal core, but not the most annoying kind. Here, melodic death metal is dominant. Of course, the influences of metal core are obvious: breakdowns, hardcore vocals but no emo vocalist (no clean singing at all) and too catchy, rock anthem appropriate riffs and choruses are thankfully left out (except for the chorus in 53 Nations).

The previous effort of Heaven Shall Burn was often described as moderate and a bit uninspired. Veto is somewhat a continuation of this style: you hear typical traits and the music is not essentially different. Dynamics are present in the tracks, but looking at the record over all, it sounds like most songs are built with the same materials and structure. Until you get to Valhalla (and also Beyond Redemption stands out because of more variation) , which is a cover of Blind Guardian. I’m not sure which version is worse: Hansi Kürsch’ screamy, awful vocals or how much subtleties have vanished at the expense of the ‘core’ in this cover. Still, since half of the German metal fans are in love with everything Blind Guardian-related, I doubt many fans in the bands home country will mind.

All in all, Heaven Shall Burn has accomplished to produce another not really outstanding album. Yet, Veto is not necessarily the worst. The production is fine (though a polished sound for a band that operates in a heavy genre)and most fans will enjoy the record that is typical of a band they adore anyway. Also, even though most tunes are similar to one another, Veto is entertaining for a few spins. After that there is risk that the music becomes a bore.

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Rating: 6/10
Track list:
1. Godiva
2. Land Of The Upright Ones
3. Die Stürme Rufen Dich
4. Fallen
5. Hunters Will Be Hunted
6. You Will Be Godless
7. Valhalla
8. Antagonized
9. Like Gods Among Mortals
10. 53 Nations
11. Beyond Redemption

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