Swedish power metal band Sabaton have created a rather specific oeuvre, based on modern warfare and the accompanying sacrifices and endeavours. Their ninth album reaches an apogee of human conflict, the first world war, in which an estimated nine million soldiers and almost as many civilians died. The band certainly don’t spare the horses. There are cannon and mortar fire effects. Songs rage about gas, trench warfare and the Fields of Verdun on the western front in 1916, where “the bombardment lasted all day long. Yet the forts were standing strong.”
With their heavy riffola, pounding drums and the sort of demonic choirs that soundtracked the horror film The Omen, the likes of The Future of Warfare and Seven Pillars of Wisdom could be an operatic metal Iron Maiden, who have also found much mileage in songs about warfare’s blood and gore.
Sabaton’s choruses are certainly catchy, although the barrage of gutturally sung lyrics (“Fire and brimstone, heading your way!”), proggy keyboards and twiddly solos can sound overwrought. Helpfully, the album also comes in a documentary style “history version”, in which voiceover narratives mix with metal. This format – in which statements such as “a single bullet, that changed the world forever” combine with tales of sniper tactics, Lawrence of Arabia and Manfred von Richthofen, the notorious “Red Baron” – is more interesting. One can learn about a fascinating, if dark, period of history while unapologetically rocking out.
