After releasing a first single, “My Revocation of Compliance”, in early April Heaven Shall Burn are dropping another new song and video taken from their upcoming album, “Heimat”. “Confounder” is their anthem celebrating self-empowerment, self-reliance and autonomous thinking, but ultimately advocating community, supporting and uplifting each other.
The band comments:
“Like an invisible force, the current conditions in our societies deform and mistreat every individual. Pressure to consume, fear campaigns, and pseudo-debates scream at us from all media and numb values important for community and democracy, such as tolerance, solidarity, and autonomous thinking. Standing up against this and setting a positive example that deviates from the madness of everyday life within one’s own bubble with a clear stance is what we want to promote with this song and the accompanying video. Be the disruptive factor, be the ‘Confounder’!”
“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.
Photo Credit: Candy Welz
