Today, Heaven Shall Burn aren’t just releasing one, but two videos for the brand new songs “Protector” and “Weakness Leaving My Heart” that are linked in one clip to reflect the two sides of the concept of the album. Check out the videos directed by their long-time friend Philipp Hirsch, below.

Both songs are taken from the upcoming double album, Of Truth and Sacrifice, which is due for a release on March 20.

Guitarist Maik Weichert explains: “In order to reflect the concept of the double album we decided to produce a ‘double video’ which turned into a real mammoth project. ‘Protector’ is taken from album one ("of Truth") while ‘Weakness Leaving My Heart’ is part of album two (‘of Sacrifice’). While ‘Protector’ represents confidence and a readiness for action ‘Weakness Leaving My Heart’ is contemplative and deals with the sacrifices and losses that truth may cost. Something you should also feel from the different vibes of the songs. The double album is giving you the essence of what HSB is about and there is lots to explore.”

Instead of getting stuck in the ever grueling cycle of studio recordings, album release and playing live Heaven Shall Burn allowed themselves a well-deserved break. While taking the time off the band the individual members could recharge their batteries and gather new influences and ideas.

Maik Weichert (guitars) says: “We decided that one album wasn’t good enough, but we wanted to create a double album as a statement. Our goal was a total work of art that people could dive into, something that leaves a lot of room for surprises and experiments. It was only fair to give our fans twice as much after letting them wait for so long.”

Conceptually the album is split into two halves: "of truth" and "of sacrifice".

Maik Weichert: “The title is exploring the idea of truth and the question what kind of sacrifices you are willing to make for it. Something reflected in the artwork: A warrioress is shielding her child with her own body. While the mother is representing the willingness to sacrifice the child is standing for truth.” The original artwork courtesy of Eliran Kantor (Testament, Iced Earth, Sodom) is a triptych showing the mother as a child and her son as a grown up. “It’s a title that refers to numerous current developments: people’s blindness in daily life and the unwillingness to make any sacrifices in order to bring about change. Still, there are many people in this world who do exactly this: teachers in Africa risking their lives in order to be able to educate children, journalists and whistleblowers who are putting their own safety at risk in order to flag things going wrong.”

When it comes to the music you can look forward to their trademark Heaven Shall Burn sound, but also to atmospheric strings that the band fleshed out with Sven Helbig and recorded with conductor Wilhelm Keitel in Minsk. On top of roughly 100 minutes of music on the regular album the limited editions come with a 90min documentary, “Mein grünes Herz in dunklen Zeiten“ (“My Green Heart In Dark Times“), by renown producer Ingo Schmoll who followed the band for almost a year in order to get to the bottom of the phenomenon Heaven Shall Burn.

Pre-order the album here.

Tracklisting:

CD1
"March Of Retribution"
"Thoughts And Prayers"
"Eradicate"
"Protector"
"Übermacht"
"My Heart And The Ocean"
"Expatriate"
"What War Means"
"Terminate The Unconcern"
"The Ashes Of My Enemies"

CD2
"Children Of A Lesser God"
"La Résistance"
"The Sorrows Of Victory"
"Stateless"
"Tirpitz"
"Truther"
"Critical Mass"
"Eagles Among Vultures"
"Weakness Leaving My Heart"

Heaven Shall Burn lineup:

Guitar: Maik Weichert
Bass: Eric Bischoff
Guitar: Alexander Dietz
Vocals: Marcus Bischoff
Drums: Christian Bass