When the Heavens Burn in Graz (2013)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Author: Primož Novak
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Location: Graz / Orpheum Teater / Austria
Gig date: 04.12.2013
Attendance: 650
Ticket price: €30.00

When the Heaven Shall Burn tour was announced, quite a few people were disappointed. It was hard to believe that Heaven Shall Burn themselves were the main act, with the legendary Swedish death metallers Hypocrisy billed as support, a band that headlines slots at plenty of festivals. Still, the fact is that Heaven Shall Burn have clearly become the bigger draw across Europe, except in the Scandinavian countries. They got a very enthusiastic response to this year’s release Veto, which won back the trust of fans after the band lost its way a bit on the last album, Invictus. Alongside the legendary Hypocrisy, the tour also featured death metallers Dying Fetus and the Scottish deathcore outfit Bleed From Within.

The Orpheum in Graz was nicely packed. At first it even felt a little odd that the place wasn’t flooded with tattooed teenagers in skinny jeans and random metalcore/deathcore band T-shirts, which suggests the crowd didn’t come just for Heaven Shall Burn, or maybe even Bleed From Within. You could tell that plenty of people were there specifically for Hypocrisy and Dying Fetus.

The night in Graz was opened by the Scottish deathcore crew Bleed From Within, who are practically on tour almost all year round. It says a lot that they’ve already played Slovenia four times in the last couple of years. And of course they do plenty of other European tours too. You could definitely see that the band has some serious mileage behind it. Everyone in the band was tight, with the drummer standing out thanks to his inventive fills between transitions, and the long-haired guitarist serving up melodic passages. Bleed From Within do have potential. Their take on deathcore isn’t stuffed with overchewed breakdowns, and the occasional melodic bits save them from monotony, but sadly the band doesn’t have enough standout songs to win over a bigger crowd. Still, if nothing else, the vocalist managed to get a few laughs out of the audience with his Scottish accent.

Dying Fetus painted a slightly different picture. The hall was already fuller, and the crazy death metal trio played without mercy. The sound wasn’t the best at the start, but over time that problem got fixed, at least to a degree. Dying Fetus mostly stuck to their staples like Your Treachery Will Die With You and One Shot, One Kill, while the older fans got their fix with Opium for the Masses and Killing on Adrenaline. The band is still promoting last year’s well-received album Reign Supreme, which doesn’t bring anything particularly new for Dying Fetus compared to their earlier releases, but simply keeps their style going, marked by fast death metal riffs and hardcore bits. The band is undoubtedly tight, the drummer stays on point despite inhuman speeds, and the guitar and bass complement each other well. But even the charm of Dying Fetus can fade a bit with John Gallagher’s indecipherable growling and bass lines that are identical to the guitar ones. Live, those lines sound like random noodling with no rhyme or reason, and the sound doesn’t stand out either. With six songs Dying Fetus got part of the crowd moving, but many were already impatiently waiting for the remaining two bands.

The Swedish Hypocrisy, who put out the decently received album End of Disclosure this year, wanted to show off in the most pompous style possible. So their repertoire was made up of the slower songs, where the keyboards stand out and make Hypocrisy sound atmospheric. The Swedish quartet, performing on this tour with a different bassist, served up Fire in the Sky, Eraser, Fractured Millenium and the closing Roswell 47. The new album naturally didn’t get left out, and as expected the band played the title track End of Disclosure as well as Tales of Thy Spineless. Older fans could rejoice over Adjusting the Sun and Killing Art. But in the end it turned out that Hypocrisy were the rotten egg of this tour. You could see that mastermind/workaholic/alcoholic Peter Tägtgren wasn’t happy about playing before Heaven Shall Burn. He looked tired (probably from the booze), and his playing was well below par too. Sure, Hypocrisy aren’t exactly technically demanding, but his solos were played badly. At first impression Peter’s vocals seem to have held up, and his screaming sounds powerful, but all those screams were boosted by the sound guy, which made it clear that Tägtgren is getting on in years and no longer has that authentic voice, though it’s not as bad as with Max Cavalera (Soulfly) yet. The whole thing came across as very routine, in a “show up and collect the money” kind of way. That was especially visible with the bored drummer Horgh, who really seemed like he’d only come to show off his big drum kit. Hypocrisy have definitely looked better, and they recently surprised with a much better show at Metaldays 2013.

After a half-hour break came the moment many had been looking forward to. The stage was set for the giants of the European metalcore scene, Heaven Shall Burn. The projections kicked in, and the band opened their long set with Die Stürme rufen Dich from the new album Veto, which may not be as punchy as their best-known songs, but as a warm-up it was tailor-made for the crowd. Then the band exploded with Counterweight, followed by another brutal new one, Land of the Upright Ones. With their sound, death metal riffs in the style of Bolt Thrower and melodic ones in the vein of old Swedish death metal, HSB showed a power you could describe as a platoon of tanks rolling through the hall. That continued with Omen, Fallen and Combat, which also features an industrial touch. Throughout, the band ran various projections underlining their views and their sociopolitical critique of the system we live in. Then came a break, and the screens showed speeches by sailors fighting aboard the Sea Shepherd, the ship that takes on whaling vessels. After the sailors’ speeches, the Sea Shepherd ship appeared on the screens, and the band launched into Hunters Will Be Hunted, which has that typical HSB punch, while all the melody and keyboards give it an incredibly epic feel. It’s hard to say HSB hit the peak of the show with this song, but with all the projections and the powerful sound they proved that a song can come across far better live than on the album, and that an HSB gig has its own charm even if you’re seeing them for the fifth time.

With Hunter Will Be Hunted, HSB showed everything in their own way: punch, melody, a powerful rhythm section and distinctive vocals, backed up by the guitarist, who also handled the guitar melodies. But the song selection was missing a few treats. Behind the Wall of Silence stirred up a bit of nostalgia, since the second album Whatever It May Take has been pretty far in the background in recent years. You could fault the band here for not picking the most fitting songs, but for many people these days the newer albums take priority. The moment everybody had surely been waiting for was this one: “Words, this words of freedom! A bequest, never to be silenced!” That’s The Weapon They Fear, the song that got HSB more recognition. The album Antigone is the most important milestone in the band’s career. Not only did they land on a bigger label, but the songs and the music itself got better in terms of production and dynamics. After Antigone, HSB stagnated in their own way, since the songs played at the show, like Of No Avail and Tresspassing the Shores of Your World, didn’t grab people as much. What did grab them was Endzeit, which the band played after the break, which was ended with a gentle piano intro, after which the band exploded and the crowd screamed along with singer Marcus Bischoff:

»nothing, just nothing
nothing will wipe this heart out
and no one, just no one will break this frontline
We are, we are, we are the fighting ones
We are, we are the, we are the final resistance!«

You could say HSB get a bit clichéd here with the simple sing-along lyrics, like some hardcore bands, Soulfly or Machine Head. But the HSB message is clear and strong. It was definitely surprising that they played a cover or two as well. First up was the melodic Black Tears by Edge of Sanity, and second was Not My God (Hate Squad), which practically forces you to start headbanging thanks to the powerful rhythm section and double bass pedals. To close, the band played Voice of the Voiceless, which usually comes with a wall of death, but sadly in the packed hall that wasn’t possible this time. After that, HSB ended their long set early because of the crowd’s bad behavior, which resulted in beer being thrown onto the stage, which is definitely disrespectful to the band. And the crowd members who didn’t like the band protested by yelling for their favorite band instead of simply walking outside or to the bar. So sadly the closing song, which is definitely a fun one, never happened: Valhalla, a Blind Guardian cover that sounds really interesting in the HSB treatment.

The Orpheum hall hosted a great lineup, with every band standing out in its own way, but in the end, despite some people’s objections, the night belonged to Heaven Shall Burn. Based on this gig, it’s safe to say that HSB will win people over at Metaldays 2014 too.

Setlist

BLEED FROM WITHIN:
1. Colony
2. Leech
3. Our Divide
4. I Am Oblivion
5. It Lives In Me
6. Uprising

DYING FETUS:
1. From Womb to Waste
2. Your Treachery Will Die With You
3. One Shot, One Kill
4. Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)
5. Killing on Adrenaline
6. In the Trenches

HYPOCRISY:
1. End of Disclosure
2. The Tale of Thy Spineless
3. Fractured Millennium
4. Fire in the Sky
5. Killing Art
6. Eraser
7. Adjusting the Sun
8. Roswell 47

HEAVEN SHALL BURN: