Review Summary: One of Heaven Shall Burn's finest works.
*please keep clear that this is my first review on this site*. I haven't known German melodic death metal metallers Heaven Shall Burn for a long time, only since the beginning of 2011, in fact. I was looking at live videos on YouTube, and I see in the suggestions a band called Heaven Shall Burn performing a song called "Voice Of The Voiceless". It was great, but I didn't really dig the studio version too much. In a further attempt to get into this band, I went onto iTunes for previews of their sophomore release, Whatever It May Take. I loved what I heard from Implore the Darken Sky(and it's other version) so much I decided to get the release. I loved it, and I then got all their CD's and listening to them in order, which brings me to this brutal, and awesome record.
The record opens up with the hard hitting masterpiece, "Counterweight". It's so brutal it hurts my head when I try to headbang to it because the track is too fast, though it still makes you want to headbang. The awesome, hard hitting pre-chorus then comes and then at the chorus, Marcus really shows his vocal talents. The song then goes to a little instrumental piece and then the chorus repeats itself again.
The brutality continues with "Trespassing the shores of your world". It's heavy, and doesn't let up...until near the end..only to come back to the heavier chorus.
One thing to note that is different from HSB's other records is the vocals. They're noticeably deeper at points, and personally, I love it. Marcus really tries to sound like the cookie monster in the song "Biogenesis: Undo Creation".
This album also shows signs of its melodic death metal influences. There's a really nice melodic chorus in "Stay The Course", and an amazing intro in "Dying in Silence". "Armia" is a beautiful track, and it's the longest song on the album. It's a bit slower, and it's got some nice melodies. It's still got its brutality, though. Another thing to note is the MySpace/Facebook targeted song "mybestfriend.com". It's got a really good message, while still retaining the awesome shredding and great melodies that HSB is known for.
Simply put. Deaf To Our Prayers is a truly amazing, underrated record. It deserves a listen from every metal fan that likes a bit of melody thrown in. Deserves to be bought, and listened to many times.
