Invictus is the sixth studio album by German Metalcore

Metalcore

Metalcore is a subgenre of heavy metal combining various elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. The name is a portmanteau of the names of the two genres. The term took on its current meaning in the mid-1990s, describing bands such as Earth Crisis, Deadguy and Integrity...

 band Heaven Shall Burn

Heaven Shall Burn

Heaven Shall Burn is a German heavy metal band from Saalfeld, formed in 1996. They combine an aggressive metal sound with lyrics that show a militant support of anti-racism and fighting social injustice. All members of the band are vegan.-Biography:...

 and is the last part of the Iconoclast trilogy, following their previous studio album Iconoclast (Part 1: The Final Resistance)

Iconoclast (Part 1: The Final Resistance)

Iconoclast is the fifth studio album by the German metalcore band Heaven Shall Burn. The album was released in Europe on 28 January 2008, followed by an American release on 5 February 2008; both dates through Century Media Records.The album entered the German Media Control chart at No...

(2008) and the live CD/DVD Bildersturm: Iconoclast II (The Visual Resistance) (2009).

It was released on 21 May 2010 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. On June 8, 2010 it was released in the United States.
The Album entered the German Media Control Charts

Media Control Charts

The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

 at No. 9.

The band uploaded the songs "Combat" and "The Omen" on their Myspace

Myspace

Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....

 profile as a preview.

Track listing

CD

1. Intro (1:10)
2. The Omen (3:38)
3. Combat
   Military use of children
   The military use of children takes three distinct forms: children can take direct part in hostilities , or they can be used in support roles such as porters, spies, messengers, look outs, and sexual slaves; or they can be used for political advantage either as human shields or in...
   
    (3:48)
4. I Was I Am I Shall Be
   Karl Liebknecht
   was a German socialist and a co-founder with Rosa Luxemburg of the Spartacist League and the Communist Party of Germany. He is best known for his opposition to World War I in the Reichstag and his role in the Spartacist uprising of 1919...
   
    (3:56)
5. Buried in Forgotten Grounds (5:33)
6. Sevastopol (4:04)
7. The Lie You Bleed For (4:41)
8. Return to Sanity
   Battle of Hurtgen Forest
   The Battle of Hürtgen Forest is the name given to the series of fierce battles fought between U.S. and German forces during World War II in the Hürtgen Forest, which became the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought...
   
    (3:20)
9. Against Bridge Burners
   Lev Kopelev
   Lev Zalmanovich Kopelev was a Soviet author and a dissident.- Biography :...
   
    (3:29)
10. Of Forsaken Poets (4:32)
11. Nowhere
    Nowhere (song)
    "Nowhere" is a song by Therapy? and a single released on January 17, 1994 on A&M Records. A remix CD was released a week later on January 24, 1994. The song is featured on the Troublegum album...
    
     (2:25) (Therapy? cover) bonus track on CD/DVD version
12. Given in Death (5:12) feat. Sabine Weniger (vocals) and Sebastian Reichl (guitar), members of Deadlock
    Deadlock (metal band)
    Deadlock is a German melodic death metal band from Schwarzenfeld, Bavaria, Germany. In 2010 they supported Lacuna Coil.-History:Formed in 1997 as a death metal band by vocalist Johannes Prem, guitarist Sebastian Reichl and drummer Tobias Graf, they released the 7" vinyl Deadlock in 1999...
    
    
13. Outro (1:46)

The limited edition includes, a wristband, a sticker and a bonus DVD containing a special live performance in Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 under the motto "Defending Sparta". Inspired by the film 300

300 (film)

300 is a 2007 American fantasy action film based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller. It is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant...

, the band chose 300 fans, gave them special t-shirts and let them have a battle on the band's music.

Defending Sparta DVD

1. Intro
2. Forlorn Skies
3. Counterweight
4. Voice Of The Voiceless
5. Endzeit
6. Buried In Forgotten Grounds
7. The Disease
8. Architects Of The Apocalypse
9. The Omen
10. Unleash Enlightment
11. Of No Avail
12. Black Tears
13. Behind A Wall Of Silence

Reception

Response to Invictus has been mostly positive. The album has garnered high scores from professional and independent reviewers alike. Both PopMatters

PopMatters

PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...

 and Blistering.com praised the band's consistent improvement from album to album over the course of their career. PopMatters went a step further, stating that "[...]Invictus (Iconoclast III) takes the trend to a whole new level, advancing Heaven Shall Burn above all of their contemporaries and vaulting them into the highest echelon of melodic death metal bands worldwide".

Almost all reviews have paid notice to the song "Given in Death" and the guest appearance by Deadlock

Deadlock (metal band)

Deadlock is a German melodic death metal band from Schwarzenfeld, Bavaria, Germany. In 2010 they supported Lacuna Coil.-History:Formed in 1997 as a death metal band by vocalist Johannes Prem, guitarist Sebastian Reichl and drummer Tobias Graf, they released the 7" vinyl Deadlock in 1999...

 vocalist Sabine Weniger (along with guitarist Sebastian Reichl of the same band). Blistering.com refers to her singing alongside Marcus Bischoff as "a stunning duet", while PopMatters said of the song, "[...]the gorgeous contrast between Bischoff’s furious screams and Weniger’s beautiful clean singing is simply breathtaking".

Personnel

• vocals - Marcus Bischoff
• guitar - Maik Weichert
• guitar - Alexander Dietz
• bass guitar
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
   - Eric Bischoff
• drums - Matthias Voigt

• mixing
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
   - Tue Madsen
• mastering
  Audio mastering
  Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
  
   - Tue Madsen
• producers
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  - Alexander Dietz and Maik Weichert