The Killer Angels

The sudden breakup of Sabaton into two separate projects was met with a fair amount of surprise, given that the supporting musicians that jumped ship essentially did so in the midst of said band's zenith of popularity. And with such an eventuality came all the questions of what will they sound like, will they stick to what they know or go for something completely different? The answer is largely found in the affirmative insofar as the former question is concerned and a definite no in the case of the latter, or in other words, this band could be likened to a slightly better version of Sabaton in many respects. While this might be something of a bold assertion, it proves to be the case given the heavily consistent and powerful material that was gradually unveiled (literally to the point of half the album being released before hand as a rather interesting promotional approach for a new project).

As with any breakoff project, there are naturally some differentiating nuances to consider, but for the most part, the heavy number of former Sabaton membership are up to their old tricks. The music largely opts for a simple yet massive approach right out of the "Primo Victoria" mode, placing a heavy emphasis on memorable melodic material, tasteful and fleeting technical displays that don't really go beyond a typical mainline 80s metal band, and an overall dense atmosphere. Keyboards play a heavy role in the overall equation, though they are a bit less overt of a sticking point and do a slightly better job of sharing the stage with the guitars. In a nutshell, this is slightly more of a rock-based approach to this sound with a greater level of mid-tempo grooves and a slightly lighter guitar sound, hence a slight familiarity with singer Nils' principle project "Astral Doors" that is particularly apparent on slower works like "Brother Judas" and "King Of The Sun" where his Dio-like gritty shouts are quite exposed in spite of the sizable number of instruments backing him up.

But perhaps the most interesting aspect of this album is that in spite of leaning a bit more towards a lighter, rock/metal character in comparison to the last couple Sabaton albums, there is also a greater degree of faster material than typical to said band. The lead off speeder "First To Fight" was one of the singles that previewed the album and speaks for itself with its fist-pumping, "Stand Up And Shout" character, but surprisingly enough it is accompanied by two other cruisers that all but scream 80s German speed metal with maybe a slight helping of Stratovarius. Both "Sons Of Avalon" and "My Own Worst Enemy" are sure to set well with fans of the earlier 2000s European power metal sound as heard out of Gamma Ray and Iron Savior (and the earliest works of Sabaton a la "Metalizer"), featuring an epic overture to conflict and glory that would likewise rope in many of the Manowar faithful. Perhaps the only thing out of character here is the heavy emphasis on keyboard leads, though the guitars get an impressive go at it on "My Own Worst Enemy" as well.

While Civil War may not reach to the same level of popularity as Sabaton, it could be argued that they've eclipsed them in terms of putting out a consistently strong album in every respect. One could speculate that this project exists as much to supply a songwriting outlet for musicians who were largely stuck in a supporting role before as to display this sort of simplified yet power sound with a vocalist that is more suited to showcase its possibilities. Nils is essentially the quintessential power metal vocalist, whereas Joakim Brodén is something of a stylistic anomaly that manages to work well considering his strong songwriting, yet ultimately proves to be far less capable in going beyond a one-trick pony sort of novelty as a gritty baritone in a world dominated by soaring tenor impresarios. And while Civil War may have some lingering identity issues with regards to their 2 related projects, powerful mid-tempo epics like "Gettysburg" and "Rome Is Falling" are pretty well beyond the scope of said bands. If nothing else, it confirms an old cliché of "Why have 1 good thing when you can get 2?" that seems to serve people in the marketing profession quite well. But don't worry, this isn't one of those products that inspired Bill Hicks' "Kill Yourself" routine.