Before “Heimat” is finally officially out tomorrow, HEAVEN SHALL BURN are releasing the epic yet bleak video for “War Is The Father Of All” including the intro “Ad Arma”. The elaborate shoot was produced by Mirko Witzki. With the video, the band returns to an end-time (home) location that some fans will remember: https://youtu.be/R4JgY2wKIgk?feature=shared
The world is in turmoil, and HEAVEN SHALL BURN dive straight into the heart of today’s storms with righteous fury and unrelenting energy. “Ad Arma” means “To arms.” The band’s weapons, however, remain unchanged: words, riffs, and heavy metal. One example is “War Is The Father Of All,” an epic anthem inspired by the war in Ukraine. It features a choir arranged by conductor Wilhelm Keitel and composed of Ukrainian musicians.
The theme runs throughout the album. The phrase comes from the Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus, who said over 2,500 years ago: “War is the father of all things and the king of all.” Tragically, that idea is experiencing a troubling renaissance today. “I grew up behind the Iron Curtain in East Germany,” says guitarist Maik Weichert. “For those of us who value peace, it’s a hard truth that the Cold War—with its arms race and nuclear deterrents—may have preserved peace more effectively than any international treaties. ‘If you hit me, I hit back harder’—that seems to resonate more with human nature than the wish for peace on Earth. It’s a bitter pill to swallow.”
Three orchestral pieces frame this philosophical exploration of war. The opener “Ad Arma” is followed mid-album by “Imminence,” which acts as a divider between the A- and B-sides of Heimat, before “Inter Arma” closes the record. Once again, the strings are laced with melancholy. Metaphorically, the war is over, gunpowder still clouds the air, and the battlefield is littered with the fallen. Where Ad Arma means “To arms,” Inter Arma—“In times of war”—describes war as a constant in human history.
“For us, though, those titles are meant to metaphorically arm our listeners with thoughts,” Weichert explains. The idea is to help people see war for what it truly is: destruction unleashed by despots, with no real winners. War is uncontrollable by nature—and will always end up consuming even those who think they command it. “But we also wanted to explore the ambiguities in how war is understood philosophically,” Weichert adds. “To put it simply: that billion-dollar arms companies are getting rich again, because at this stage in human development, militarization seems to be the only way left to maintain peace.”
“Heimat” = German for “home / homeland / native land” – a term that merely refers to a relationship between people and spaces but has nevertheless always been highly emotionally charged. Often misused, it sometimes causes discomfort, lively discussions and battles over interpretation. Maik Weichert (guitar) comments: “’Heimat’ is not meant as the narrow-minded end point in the sense it has been used by agitators and populists, but the starting point for observations and perspectives. The album is about a much wider sense of the term ‘Heimat’: the homelands for many different people and also about the spiritual home, something that shapes and determines our thoughts and actions.”
HEAVEN SHALL BURN took their time with the follow-up to “Of Truth And Sacrifice”, which reached number 1 in the Official German Album Charts in 2020. “Heimat” was produced at the band’s own studio, The Dude Ranch, which is run by guitarist Alexander Dietz. Like in the past, Danish producer Tue Madsen took care of the mixing and mastering.
The Thuringians enlisted the renowned artist Eliran Kantor for the artwork, who previously crafted the artwork for “Of Truth And Sacrifice”. The centrepiece of the impressive triptych is a rearing stag – in its roaring variant a classic motif of wildlife painting, the epitome of kitsch and trivial art from the 19th and 20th centuries and interpreted by some as a symbol of patriarchy and capitalist competition, but here placed as a vital allegory of resistance amid an apocalyptic scene. He is flanked by a hunting lynx and a watchful owl, which complete the highly symbolic artwork concept as further elements of the triptych. As with “Of Truth And Sacrifice”, HEAVEN SHALL BURN worked together with composer, producer and director Sven Helbig and conductor Wilhelm Keitel, this time supported by the Mondëna Quartet and the Ukrainian Sophia Chamber Choir.
