Photo: Heaven Shall Burn Live [Cat Eye Photography]
Heaven Shall Burn have been in the game for more than 30 years now. Three decades in which the band led by Marcus Bischoff has released ten studio albums, most recently their current long-player Heimat in 2025.
So the group from Saalfeld/Saale in Thuringia has had plenty of time to experiment. For some of their hits, they’ve repeatedly brought in well-known support from the scene and released several strong collaborative tracks with musicians from Killswitch Engage, Donots, Lord Of The Lost, and more. Alongside the band’s big hits, here are a few recommendations you might not have discovered yet.
Numbered Days feat. Killswitch Engage
For their album Heimat, HSB picked a very special classic and reinterpreted it. “Numbered Days” was originally released by Killswitch Engage and can be found on their 2002 album Alive Or Just Breathing. Not only did Heaven Shall Burn take on a huge hit by their genre peers — they also cheekily borrowed their frontman. None other than KSE singer Jesse Leach lends his voice to the cover. A nostalgic collaboration! We’re hoping for a joint live performance from the acts in the future.
The Sorrows Of Victory feat. Lord Of The Lost
With their 2020 album Of Truth & Sacrifice, Heaven Shall Burn reached No. 1 on the album charts “out of nowhere” for the first time. The hit record includes a song called “The Sorrows Of Victory,” featuring guest vocals by Lord Of The Lost, who would later become Eurovision participants. The nearly eight-and-a-half-minute epic becomes a highlight of the LP thanks to the guest appearance by singer Chris Harms of the Hamburg dark rock band. A few years later, HSB vocalist Marcus returned the favor by appearing on the LOTL track “The Future Of The Past Life.”
Keinen Schritt zurück feat. Donots
Metal meets punk! As we all know, it never hurts to step outside your (musical) comfort zone. That’s how HSB teamed up with punk rock icons Donots. The bands from Saalfeld and Münster share a long friendship, and after many years of sharing stages, the collaboration track “Keinen Schritt zurück” was born. Both Heaven Shall Burn and Donots are bands that take clear social and political stances through their music — so it’s no surprise that the joint track is a statement against racism and fascism.
Schweineherbst feat. Dÿse
While we’re on the topic of stepping outside the musical comfort zone: how about a metal-noise-rock hybrid? “Schweineherbst” is exactly that kind of result. For their cover of the 1995 Slime hit, Heaven Shall Burn brought in support from Dÿse. The noise rock duo from Jena had previously worked with HSB bassist Alexander Dietz on their interpretation of “Der Haifisch der hat Zähne” from “Mack the Knife” (The Threepenny Opera). Reason enough to return the favor!
Valhalla feat. Blind Guardian
In 2013, Heaven Shall Burn covered the Blind Guardian hit “Valhalla” for their album Veto. For the album’s 10th anniversary, they re-released the track. Friendly support came from Blind Guardian frontman Hansi Kürsch himself. The power metal band originally released “Valhalla” in 1989, and it remains one of their biggest hits to this day. HSB’s version is also among the band’s most-streamed songs. The anniversary remake even gave the cover its first official music video.
Heaven Shall Burn x Imminence
Not a collaboration in the classic sense, but rather a friendly gesture — one that Heaven Shall Burn and the Swedish band Imminence exchanged. Both bands released songs titled after the other band. In 2023, Imminence put out the track “Heaven Shall Burn,” later included on their album The Black, while HSB released the song “Imminence” in 2025 as part of Heimat. Whether this nice gesture was planned in advance or just happened organically isn’t entirely clear — but it’s a great side fact nonetheless.
