Sabaton

It sounds fine but not particularly exciting. Every Sabaton album after Coat of Arms has been weaker than the previous one.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Nyx
KidInTheDark666 said:
It sounds fine but not particularly exciting. Every Sabaton album after Coat of Arms has been weaker than the previous one.
Click to expand...
I really liked Heroes. (Only sabaton album I really listened to at length) I thought it was pretty diverse, and an awesome heavy sound. But I also don't really know their other releases, so I have no perspective for comparison.
 
euromaiden said:
I really liked Heroes. (Only sabaton album I really listened to at length) I thought it was pretty diverse, and an awesome heavy sound. But I also don't really know their other releases, so I have no perspective for comparison.
Click to expand...
Heroes is like Sabaton’s black album: it perfects their sound but also sets up the template for all of the future releases.
 
Another meh for me.


It’s fine. I don’t know. Why can’t they just write more songs like Bismarck? Shit, we should petition a full naval war album since those are some of their best.

There’s a guitar part that comes in during the second verse here that’s identical to another song. Unbreakable maybe?
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Why can’t they just write more songs like Bismarck?
Click to expand...
And even then “Bismarck” is something we’ve already heard on the first five albums done better. It’s just one of the best modern Sabaton songs because it feels like there’s some effort put into it. I want Sabaton to push themselves, maybe in a “Rise of Evil” vein — I’d love to see them write an epic again.
 
...so, what you're saying is that Sabaton is Swedish Dragonforce with even more cheese factor and less incessant tempos?
 
MrKnickerbocker said:
Another meh for me.


It’s fine. I don’t know. Why can’t they just write more songs like Bismarck? Shit, we should petition a full naval war album since those are some of their best.

There’s a guitar part that comes in during the second verse here that’s identical to another song. Unbreakable maybe?
Click to expand...
You know what? I actually like this song quite a bit. The industrial base, the slow entering of guitars, the icy feel they’ve got going on — and the chorus is actually understated in a way that makes it hit powerfully. The key change at the end is a little unnecessary but still works. I even got chills at one point, a good sign. It’s gonna be up there among post-Carolus Sabaton songs I think.
 
I enjoyed the new song enough, but even as someone who hasn't listened to very much Sabaton it felt very familiar.
 
Nyx said:
I really liked Heroes. (Only sabaton album I really listened to at length) I thought it was pretty diverse, and an awesome heavy sound. But I also don't really know their other releases, so I have no perspective for comparison.
Click to expand...
I liked Heroes a lot but I think Sabaton reached their peak with The Art of War. Since The Last Stand, it’s all been a rehash.
 
I liked Soldier of Heaven a bit more, but both of these songs are sadly a far cry from what Sabaton used to be. Christmas Truce is pretty killer, though.

The trio of Art of War, Coat of Arms, and Carolus Rex is one of the greatest three-album punches I've ever heard. Heroes was great in its own right, but since then they've copied that style 1:1 and outside of a few tracks have been largely forgettable.

Songs like Wolfpack, Uprising, Cliffs of Gallipoli, Final Solution, Carolus Rex, Panzerkampf, Gott Mit Uns, White Death, Panzer Battalion, and Screaming Eagles have a lot more meat to them than almost everything they've done since (and including some of) Heroes. Christmas Truce has a vibe more similar to these, while the other two are Sabaton-by-the-numbers.

Edit: I forgot Bismarck. Love that song. Also Steel Commanders kicks ass, so they still have it in them.
 
Detective Beauregard said:
Christmas Truce has a vibe more similar to these, while the other two are Sabaton-by-the-numbers.
Click to expand...
“Christmas Truce” has that yo ho ho everyone hug and sing together chorus though. “Soldier of Heaven” to me was a rewrite of the classic Sabaton formula from the glory days and a successful one at that. One of the best songs post Carolus.
 
The new album is good, but I think the previous one was better. The memorable choruses are here and most of the songs have slow solos (I like this type of solos).

My favorite songs are: ''Soldier Of Heaven'', ''Christmas Truce'', ''Hellfighters'' and ''Dreadnought''.

''Lady Of The Dark'', ''The Unkillable Soldier'' and ''The Valley Of Death'' are also very good songs. The opening song has a killer instrumental section, while ''Race To The Sea'' has a great chorus.
 
Sabaton
The War to End All Wars

Some notes I jotted down while listening.
  1. “Sarajevo” - mostly spoken word with a less oomphy chorus. Some classic power metal riffing in the instrumental section, but this doesn’t really feel like a song. Solid intro I guess but a little disappointing.
  2. “Stormtroopers” - damn, this song slaps. Feels like something from the first two albums, definite classic Sabaton. They rip off Accept’s “Balls to the Wall” with the choir vocal interlude but it’s all in good fun. I’m definitely vibing to this.
  3. “Dreadnaught” - jeez, more classic Sabaton. Joakim sounds a little off at first but it doesn’t hinder the song. Look, it’s not like we haven’t heard this shit before (“Wolfpack”, “Bismarck”), but this is just how they write sea-faring shit, and it sounds exactly like a battleship so it works. “The Dreadnaughts dread nothing at all!” Shut up, that’s too good. The riffing after the solo is immense. Wish they repeated that chorus twice actually. Love the bookended sea sounds. Just a great satisfying Sabaton song.
  4. “The Unkillable Soldier” - and now we’ve arrived at Heroes 101. But it’s still a fun song. The chorus is something new for them and I dig it. As with a lot of (at least modern) Sabaton songs, the story is cooler than the song, lol.
  5. “Soldier of Heaven” - I really liked this song when it came out and I still do. They do a great song of making it sound wintery while giving plenty of beautiful imagery in memoriam of those who died on the mountain they sing of. Great, great song.
  6. “Hellfighters” - Jesus, this is heavy. The instrumental section is fantastic. A lot of this song’s music reminds me of Iced Earth. A really ripping piece for Sabaton.
  7. “Race to the Sea” - and here’s The Last Stand. It’s not bad but disappointing (as that album was). The title is great but deserved better music. Crazy how they can rewrite the same chorus a hundred times and still make it sound different.
  8. “Lady of the Dark” - woah, what the fuck is this riff? This is Sabaton??? Once we get going all the classic Sabaton tropes come out to play (chorus is “Back in Command”) but it sounds like their early music which makes it more interesting. The ending is way too sudden though.
  9. “The Valley of Death” - early Sabaton mixed with The Last Stand. Once again the music is fucking furious. I wish the band would stop using their playbook of tropes but whatever. Another GREAT instrumental section, jeez.
  10. “Christmas Truce” - much of this song is fantastic. The symphonic build up is awesome, Joakim puts a lot into his performance. Even the chorus has grown on me. They even manage to weave Christmas carol sounds in. Their use of backing vocals is really good here.
  11. “Versailles” - so this is just “Sarajevo” but in a different key. Man, with titles like “Sarajevo” and “Versailles” you’d think they’d be proper songs. Weird way to bookend the album. I’m interested in the references to WWII here though. Next Sabaton album?
So overall? Yeah it’s still typical Sabaton but on first listen this is the best album they’ve done since Heroes if not Carolus Rex. Even though we’ve heard this all before, a lot of these songs sound like they’re on Primo or Attero and I like that. There’s some HEAVY stuff on here too. They’re pushing themselves a little more even if they’re still in the rut as always, but this time it’s very successful. For an album I genuinely wasn’t even excited for and didn’t realize was coming out on my birthday, this is actually a really nice gift. I give it a B+ on first listen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top