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

Sabaton - Carolus Rex

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast

2012

(Swedish Version)

1. Dominium Maris Baltici
2. Lejonet Fran Norden
3. Gott Mit Uns
4. En Livistid I Krig
5. 1648
6. Karolinens Bon
7. Carolus Rex
8. Ett Slag Fargat Rott
9. Poltava
10. Konugens Likfard
11. Ruina Imperii

(Enlish Version)

1. Dominium Maris Baltici
2. The Lion From The North
3. Gott Mit Uns
4. A Lifetime Of War
5. 1648
6. The Carolean's Prayer
7. Carolus Rex
8. Killing Ground
9. Poltava
10. Long Live The King
11. Ruina Imperii

Sabaton are back again and with them this time they're brought a rather grand concept that I've not heard covered musically. Carolus Rex is the tale of Charles XII of Sweden and the Swedish Empire. As such Sabaton also has recorded the album in Swedish as well as in English. Seemed like a good move to me as I felt the Swedish language would just give the concept a certain feel of authenticity. Certainly sounded good to me when Falconer did an album in Swedish recently. With that in mind I'll be reviewing the deluxe version with both languages as a whole.

After listening to both the English and Swedish versions of this album I've come to the decision there really is room for both and the deluxe version is the way to go. If you want that extra feel of Swedes singing about Sweden then that version works well. If however you want to understand the lyrics and get into it that way then the English version sounds good too. If I had to pick one version it would be the Swedish. With that said, there are certain songs where the vocal melodies work better for English just as there are songs where they work better in Swedish. Gott Mit Uns sounds better to me in English, but Lejonet Fran Norden is the superior version of that song in my opinion. I guess you'll just have to listen to both versions. I will.

Language aside, Sabaton have put together a pretty good album here. I do think it gets a little bogged in the concept at times and leans Sabaton away from their strengths a bit. This one seems very epic and overblown. Granted the band has always been to a degree, but this doesn't get quite as good of a fusion between heavy riffs and epic flair that Coat Of Arms had. I found the songwriting on that one very good and enjoyed the heavy, war vibe that songs like Midway brought to the table. This one just seems a little lighter and more about the pomp. Comes off a bit like fantasy metal at times and doesn't seem quite as powerful to me. Overall though, the epic flair isn't bad at all and this album just has sort of a different personality for the band. Well worth it if you like your warrior metal over the top. To me this screams to fans of bands like Manowar.

Overall, this album is interesting, a pretty good listen, but not quite as good as what came before it to me. Worth listening to for sure and I'd recommend it to fans. For new listeners I'd say get Coat Of Arms or Primo Victoria first.

Highlights: Gott Mit Uns (English), Leojenet Fran Norden, Carolus Rex (Swedish)

Rating - 3.5/5

Sabaton - Coat Of Arms

Power Metal
Nuclear Blast

2010

1. Coat of Arms
2. Midway
3. Uprising
4. Screaming Eagles
5. The Final Solution
6. Aces in Exile
7. Saboteurs
8. Wehrmacht
9. The White Death
10. Metal Ripper

Coat Of Arms marks the fifth effort from Swedish power metallers, but they have remained in relative obscurity. This could be perhaps because their sound is not very new and this sort of epic german power metal has been done and done again. That being said they have recently started to get a little US exposure and recognition after playing ProgPower USA 2009.

With this band it's pretty much 'what you see is what you get'. There's no real surprises here as this is straight ahead german style power metal like they've always done it and similar to the way others have done it before. There are big choruses, sort of gruff vocals and lots of epic touches while still going for straight ahead and heavy sounding riffs. Think of Grave Digger with a better singer who isn't as harsh and you're about there. That all being said... they do it pretty well. These songs are all pretty solid and there are some addictive as hell choruses with a lot of energy in tracks like Coat Of Arms and Midway. These just sound huge and are certainly strong cuts if you're into this sort of epic metal.

Basically, this band is what it is and doesn't seem to be changing or making themselves seem like anything they're not. This is a band that's into singing about war and making metal sound huge. If this is your deal then this album is certainly enjoyable enough.

Highlights: Coat Of Arms, Midway, Saboteurs

Rating - 3.5/5

Sabaton - Attero Dominatus

Power Metal
Black Lodge

2006

1. Attero Dominatus
2. Nuclear Attack
3. Rise Of Evil
4. In The Name Of God
5. We Burn
6. Angels Calling
7. Back In Control
8. A Light In The Black
9. Metal Crüe

Sabaton are a Swedish power act but they pretty much sound like a band that should be from Germany. Sort of rough vocals, big choruses, etc, etc. This one marks their third release in relative obscurity.

Listening to this release... well it pretty much sounds like the last one. I haven't heard the first release but I'd bet money on it sounding the same as well as the songs don't really seem to vary a hell of a lot. The sound isn't anything real inventive either as it's pretty much your run of the mill warrior/epic metal. The vocal sound falls somewhere between Manowar and Grave Digger as they're rough and build to ultra bombastic choruses reminscent of a slower Blind Guardian. The music is more or less flowing with a bit of crunch here and there in a very standard formula. The sound comes off pretty well and the songs do succeed in sounding like metal anthems with a larger than life feel but I've heard it done before and I just can't find anything to get too excited about with this band. If you're into the style and feel like turning your brain off for a bit then they might sate your hunger for epic warrior metal but other bands just did it first and better.

Highlights: Attero Dominatus, In The Name Of God

Rating - 2.5/5

Sabaton - Primo Victoria

Power Metal
Underground Symphony

2005

1. Primo Victoria
2. Regin Of Terror
3. Panzer Battalion
4. Wolfpack
5. Counterstrike
6. Stalingrad
7. Into The Fire
8. Purple Heart
9. Metal Machine

A relative unknown in the power scene, this is Sabaton's sophmore release and fans of epic true metal may well want to take note. With a combination of all out Grave Digger riff attacks and Manowar-like anthems this will appeal to fans the above bands as well as acts such as Omen. Mostly revolving around themes of war this is simply put... warrior metal. Nothing incredibly new, but competent and catchy with memorable choruses this is a pretty solid release.

Highlights: Primo Victoria, Into The Fire

Rating - 3.0/5