''Countdown to Devil'' is the first

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by rock band

Heaven Below Heaven Below is an American hard rock band based in Los Angeles. The band's debut album ''Countdown to Devil'' was released March 2009. History The band was formed in late 2007 by Patrick Kennison (Union Underground), Marty O'Brien (Disturbed ...

. The album was released on February 11, 2009.

Composition

The Laughing Dead

"The Laughing Dead", the tenth track on the album, was at one time, a candidate for the name of the band. Having a lyric mentioning "Heaven Below", the song helped the band decide on its current moniker. EMURG describes the song as one being "about enjoying every minute of life".

When Daylight Dies

"When Daylight Dies" has been played on more than 4 dozen radio stations in the United States including Hard Drive and The Rock 30.

Lead vocalist The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

Patrick Kennison Patrick Kennison is an American rock musician. He co-founded The Union Underground who played on Ozzfest 2001 and released an album ''An Education in Rebellion'' which sold 350,000 copies. Union Underground broke up due to musical differences ...

and

Marty O'Brien Marty O'Brien is an American bass guitarist. He plays professionally for live touring musical acts, recording sessions, television, and film scores all of which encompass a range of genres such as pop and rock, thereby collaborating with vario ...

, Heaven Below's

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a Bass (instrument), bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboar ...

at the time who performed and continues to perform in

We Are the Fallen We Are the Fallen is an American hard rock band consisting of Irish singer and former ''American Idol'' contestant Carly Smithson, guitarist Ben Moody, guitarist John LeCompt, drummer Rocky Gray, and bassist Marty O'Brien. Moody, LeCompt, and ...

befriended Ben Moody of Evanescence and

. When Moody heard the track, he told the band that while he'd like to produce the entire ''Countdown to Devil'' album, that he had availability for one song only. When Moody stated that he wanted to make "a cinematic song that sounds like something epic", Kennison agreed to have Moody work on the song.

Critical reception

EMURG states that the vocals for the album "are right on par with their dominating drums and guitars". With respect to "The Takeover", the second track of the work, the site states that lead vocalist

"makes a valid attempt" to "overshadow those drums" but "once the guitar solo hits, all hope is lost". EMURG goes on to say that "This song is musically driven and it doesn’t matter what the lyrics are at this point" and states that "The Congregation" has a similar measure to it. "Judgment Day”, a tune about looking inside of one's self and wishing to improve upon who they are is described as "a fitting ending" with EMURG giving them "kudos for ending on a “smart”note rather than seeking to end the album with a brutal mosh-worthy song". The site goes on to exclaim that ending with "Judgement Day" "gives

he listener He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' i ...

a more satisfied feeling", as the listener's "brain is mentally full of great music".

Track listing

#"All Rise" - 0:55 #"The Takeover" - 3:35 #"The Congregation" - 3:31 #"Scream" - 3:58 #"Heartbreak Anthem" - 2:50 #"A Thousand Years" - 4:03 #"When Daylight Dies" - 3:59 #"The Radio Song" - 3:46 #" Major Tom" - 4:12 #"The Laughing Dead" - 3:39 #"In the Arms of Your Lies" - 3:09 #"Judgement Day" - 3:54 #"When Daylight Dies" (acoustic) - 3:57

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2009 debut albums Heaven Below albums