I Will Rule the Universe

For the avid Sabaton fan who has followed its splinter project Civil War over the past year, one will note the fairly obvious similarities with their former project, though some differences occur, though the vocals of Nils Patrick Johansson is the only truly obvious one. However, the cumulative project that became their self-titled EP did have a slightly different character that was marked by a humbler keyboard presence and a slow general approach to tempo and feel in line with the sound before the speed metal infusion brought about by Helloween, ergo something more along the lines of a typical Dio album. However, if their lead off single "I Will Rule The Universe" is any indication of the direction of their coming LP "The Killer Angels", this project is on the fast track to becoming Sabaton with a different singer.

This song literally sounds like a b-side to "The Art Of War", going so far as to actually paraphrasing the principle theme of said album's title song for its own chorus and plodding along at a slow galloping groove right out of the "Holy Diver" playbook. There are a few extras added on here and there to keep it from being an overt copy, but this sounds so much like a Sabaton song that it isn't even funny. Perhaps somewhat disappointing about this song is that in spite of guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén now having some input in the songwriting (Joakim Brodén pretty much monopolized the composition process throughout Sabaton's existence), they aren't really taking any liberties to speak of. There is a guitar solo that sort of comes and goes without any real impact, and the riffs are pretty plain and standard. Even when at his most predictable, Tony Iommi would put some detailing into the verse and chorus sections to keep things from coasting too much, where as this take on the style of song he helped pioneer listens with the rugged orthodoxy of a mainline hard rock band.

The coming release of "The Killer Angels" is sure to be a time of anticipation for Sabaton fans who are itching for another album but don't feel like waiting until Brodén takes a break from touring, but it will hopefully also see an album that has some level of distinctiveness from his handiwork. Napoleon wouldn't be ashamed of this song, but he might not be overtly impressed by it either.