Sabaton - Heroes

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast
2014











1. Night Witches
2. No Bullets Fly
3. Smoking Snakes
4. Inmate 4859
5. To Hell And Back
6. The Ballad Of Bull
7. Resist And Bite
8. Soldier Of 3 Armies
9. Far From The Fame
10. Hearts Of Iron

Recently, Sabaton's stock has been rising for me and it seems like that has been the case for a lot of the metal community. Sabaton have been moving further up towards the headlining spots of festivals, have been able to do their own headlining US tour, etc. None of these things would have seemed all that imaginable earlier in the band's career or at least not to me. Early on I considered Sabaton a passable, but kind of unspectacular power metal band as their brand of warrior type power metal has been done and done again. The thing is is that the band has really grown on me and their sound has continually matured to be less raw and more epic while still staying pretty heavy for the most part. I think the album that really won me over and showed that their songwriting could be more than just a one trick sort of deal was Coat of Arms where the songwriting was fairly diverse with a clean and powerful sound. It was a bit of a grower that I like more now than when I reviewed it. I'd also credit my growing regard for the band to getting to see them live and seeing just how Fun their sound and energy came across in that regard. Between seeing them live and hearing the two songs, To Hell And Back & Resist And Bite, in advance of the album I guess you could say my expectations were pretty high. Those two songs are just awesome and left me wanting to hear more.

Listening to Heroes, this album seems to have a bit more fire than Carolus Rex as things don't get too bloated with concept and most of the songs are quick moving and quick to finish. For the most part the formula is basically heavy, swift, epic, and short as the songs come out firing and rap things up generally within four minutes. This seems like a pretty good formula for the band really as the songs have a rather basic and continued point of being fist pumping and the quick changes provide for a bit of song to song variation before anything overstays it's welcome. Nothing wrong with being heavy and to the point. These sort of songs all seem made for the live arena.

The one issue I take with these short tracks is that there aren't really enough of them. I guess Sabaton albums have always been shortish and typically clock in around forty minutes and this may be a bit nitpicky, but having an album at 37 minutes is a bit like the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I expect a little more material than this if I'm going to shell out the cash for an album. One or two more songs would have done it really. It's just short enough to be noticeable as a bit lacking in that regard. Another minor gripe would be that the album did fall a bit short of the expectations it set for itself. I perfectly understand making the two best songs available as singles/previews in advance of the album, but it was a bit underwhelming that none of the other songs lived up to the promise of To Hell And Back and Resist And Bite. Certainly, there are other good songs to be found but none that match the folksy catchiness of To Hell And Back or the huge vocal sound and pounding rhythm of Resist And Bite.

Those relatively minor complaints aside though, there are certainly other good songs to be found and the album keeps the energy flowing extremely well. Actually, I'd say I find every track on this album pretty damn enjoyable except for one and that comes in the form of a change of pace ballad titled The Ballad Of Bull. This one is just too over the top sappy power ballad for me to enjoy it. One of the change of pace sort of tracks is also a favorite though as it does stand out as a nice breath of fresh air and as a generally different song for the band. That track is Inmate 4859. The pace of that one is almost doomy and carries a great slow burn heaviness along with a somewhat sinister vibe. Appropriate for a topic like Auschwitz I would say. Night Witches also makes the highlight list as just a good heavy opener with a lot of energy and some nice big gang vocals to add that epic touch.

Maybe this album isn't the huge step forward that To Hell And Back and Resist And Bite promised me, but it is one of their better albums and I don't think you can realistically Ask for much more than that. This is a great album to throw on if you want a lot of energy and direct yet epic songs. I can see Heroes as being something excellent to work out to, etc and I see no reason why this shouldn't be pleasing to fans of the band. The only things that hold back the album slightly for me from a higher rating are the amount of material on here and the fact some of the songs blend together and don't distinguish themselves as much as the two tracks available in advance of the release of the album.


Highlights: To Hell And Back, Resist And Bite, Inmate 4859

Rating - 4.0/5