”Deaf To Our Prayers“ is the long awaited follow-up for HEAVEN SHALL BURNs highly acclaimed and successful album “Antigone”. Right after its release in spring 2004 the band spent almost every weekend on the road, playing numerous festivals and shows all over Europe including a headlining tour in fall 2004. In the Fall of 2005, the first and highly successful edition of the Hell On Earth Tour (also featuring As I Lay Dying, Evergreen Terrace, Agents Of Man, End Of Days and Naerea) saw them triumph in the co-headlining position. During the preparation for the tour it was clear that former guitarist Patrick Schleitzer would leave the band to concentrate on his private life. In came Alexander Dietz, who already did guest-vocals on some of the tracks of “Antigone”. Upon returning home, the band started working on new material for “Deaf To Our Prayers”. Again, the recording was done at Rape Of Harmonies Studios in Thüringen. For the first time HEAVEN SHALL BURN used Jacob Hansen and his Hansen Studios for the mix. “We had a great time in Ribe, the oldest city in Denmark and worked extremely hard on getting the maximum out of the new songs”, recalls guitarist Maik Weichert. “Right from the beginning of the writing process we had the vision to record a raw and direct album. I think ‘Deaf To Our Prayers’ is a lot more brutal than ‘Antigone’ while still having some mid-tempo passages. Simply 100% HSB!” As on their previous albums HEAVEN SHALL BURN don’t just have intense music to offer, but also food for thought. “The title ‘Deaf To Our Prayers’ is influenced by a line from a poem by Heinrich Heine that dealt with the situation of industrial workers from Silesia in the 19th century. Other songs like ‘Of No Avail’ or ‘The Final March’ were influenced by Gerhard Hauptmann’s drama ‘The Weavers’. Especially the situation of the workers in the 19th century, the so-called Industrial Revolution, shows oppressive parallels to current developments in our society that’s highly affected by globalisation.” However, “Deaf To Our Prayers” is also dealing with other historic aspects. “’Armia’ for example is about the hopeless, 64-day fight that Polish partisans fought against the occupying power in the battle of Warsaw in August 1944. - Again, we stayed away from topics such as heartache, problems with parents and ‘I’ll kill every single one of you’. We know that there are people out there who want to use their heads for banging AND thinking - that’s what we are about.