Sabaton

I'm listening to this album and its three versions on repeat rn. So far I've figured out that the standard edition is less an album than it is a collection of songs, the history edition is less an album than it is a documentary, and the soundtrack edition is less an album than it is a film score. In other words, it does not feel like what an album should feel like.

That said, the songs are all strong to great and there's a lot to like despite my reservations. Still, my thoughts from last night are holding up pretty well for me.
 
No kidding, but most albums feel like their own entities outside of holding songs within them. This one? Not so much.
 
Initial Thoughts (3 listens in today)
- The Future of Warfare is alright. The chorus melody is a little annoying
- Seven Pillars of Wisdom is literally a rehashed version of White Death.
- Attack of the Dead Men is a bit different, not very bad either.
- Speaking of rehashes... Devil Dogs is literally Smoking Snakes but with Marines.
- The Red Baron reminds me of Night Witches a bit.
- I like the title track a lot. In fact, after this song the album is actually quite good.
- The End of the War to End All Wars is the best song. It’s out of their comfort zone and it works very well.
- Flanders Fields is quite nice. A good ending.

In conclusion, I still stand by my earlier statements that Sabaton needs to step out of their comfort zone and write some longer tracks that have a slight degree of complexity. The album is just too safe and they just end up playing the same songs. Seven Pillars of Wisdom was so blatantly obvious that it’s kind of painful. Anyways whatever the next album is I hope they step it up a bit. All in all, I like it more than the last album so far.
 
all of The Great War's self plagiarism:

1. The Future Of Warfare - the verses are basically Stalingrad
2. Seven Pillars Of Wisdom - the riff, verses, and chorus are straight from White Death, while the solo and pre-chorus smack of Metal Crue
3. 82nd All The Way - Verses are 7734
4. The Attack Of The Dead Men - this one feels kinda new actually. Not sure if it's taking pieces or not tbh. The solo sounds like it comes from Megadeth's song Countdown To Extinction though.
5. Devil Dogs - Smoking Snakes with some Aces In Exile in there.
6. Red Baron - Night Witches, but with 70s synths! Wow!
7. Great War - the opening choir is reminiscent of Attero Dominatus, and there's a part in the second verse that has a key change that sounds like something on Primo Victoria. The solo meanwhile is awesome but features a piece that I wanna say sounds like Panzerkampf's? Ending of the song is from Carolus Rex’s opening.
8. A Ghost In The Trenches - this one feels mostly new and I can’t single out any one song it took influence from.
9. Fields Of Verdun - mostly new though there is some Soldier Of 3 Armies influence
10. The End Of The War To End All Wars - The verses remind me of something that I can’t put my finger on, but otherwise it’s an untypical Sabaton song
11. In Flanders Fields - completely unique.
 

Premieres in a little over five minutes. The song is already out so I dunno how interesting this will be, but hey.
 
Definitely a better album than the last couple. I say this after just finishing the new one and not being to tell the difference between the last 2, nor finishing them. I am no aficionado but at least I made it the whole way through this one.
I think these guys would make a good dance band, recently some of their stuff makes me want to vogue more than headbang.
That said, I wouldn't hesitate to see them live again. Much fun is to be had at a Sabaton gig.
 
To be completely honest, I’m not a fan of this album. It sounds like Sabaton lost their ability to write good choruses. As I said earlier, the album definitely sounds like everything Sabaton have already done. It just lacks the balls in my opinion. Fields of Verdun is one hell of a song though.
 
I like it better than The Last Stand so far.

Sabaton Album Ranking
1. The Art of War
2. Coat of Arms
3. Heroes
4. Carolus Rex
5. Primo Victoria
6. The Great War
7. The Last Stand
8. Attero Dominatus
9. Metalizer

KidInTheDark666 said:
It sounds like Sabaton lost their ability to write good choruses.
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Great War says hello. Ghost in the Trenches was very good too.
 
I am also very underwhelmed by this album. It just feels...rushed? Poorly structured? Lazy? I don't know.

I agree with @KidInTheDark666 that the choruses are more lackluster than usual. Something about this album just doesn't grab me in the same way other Sabaton albums have. I think the opening track is pretty terrible. Ending the album with a female choir doesn't make any sense in terms of the whole album, considering none of the songs gel together whatsoever.

Fields of Verdun is an instant classic, The Attack of the Dead Men is absolutely stellar, and The End of the War to End All Wars is incredibly epic. Everything else just feels like a collection of demos in terms of composition.

- Why does a song that mentions Arabia not harken back to the early days of Sabaton and use some of those Eastern sounding guitar riffs? It would have been so easy to put those in.
- Why does The Red Baron open with a pointless organ solo?
- Why do 2-3 tracks open with zero buildup and jump straight to the chorus? It robs the songs of literally any build-up, catharsis, or natural growth.

I don't know. As always, this album will grow on me and I'll have the time of my life at the next Sabaton show I attend, but I just wish they spent a little more time writing and allowing the songs to breathe.
 
I'm mostly loving the album. I'm actually hearing a few new things like those keyboards on A Ghost In The Trenches. Like AC/DC and Scorpions, Sabaton will never be very original, But Joakim is a pretty damn good writer of music overall.
 
Travis The Dragon said:
I'm mostly loving the album. I'm actually hearing a few new things like those keyboards on A Ghost In The Trenches. Like AC/DC and Scorpions, Sabaton will never be very original, But Joakim is a pretty damn good writer of music overall.
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Thats pretty much how I see them; a band with a real distinctive sound, you can tell them a mile off but sometimes its better than others even though its very similar. Maybe its unfair to put Scorpions in this bracket but you know what I mean.
 
Finally listening.

The Future of Warfare is fucking great so far. It's Sabaton by the numbers, but as a companion piece to Ghost Division it's up there.
 
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