Bismarck

If you started listening to metal in the 2010s or later, it's very likely that you once thought: Oh man, this is the shit!. Then later on you maybe realized that you have to omit the "the" from the previous sentence. This was the case with me at least. I've only heard what is considered Sabaton's best, that being their 2008, 2012 and 2014 albums. I guess that I could still sit through a bit of Heroes or Carolus Rex to this day, but I haven't heard anything by them in a long time. So, I wanted to see what their modern work was about, and if it was really that bad.

I'll start with the pros first, there won't be many anyway. I could actually hear an unexpected and welcomed touch of bass before the chorus because let's be honest, it's quite a rare sight in the modern plastic production (which Nuclear Blast are a prime example of). And Joakim's vocals are as iconic as ever, I have to give him that.

The hate often revolves around how Sabaton have become the 5-minute crafts of metal, and I have to agree. All of their songs follow a pattern, and, seeing how this is some of if not the most mainstream power metal out there it's not a particularly intricate one. A slow intro, either using sampled sounds or an orchestra that's slowly creeping in. Then a main basic riff, that you'll hear throughout most of the song, and that will eventually switch to a new one, or some basic melody. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, chorus till the end, you know the drill. And this goes on for quite a while, too. The five minutes of this just drag on and on, with nothing new to hear.

Another point people often make is the overall theme and lyrics. War has been a staple of metal music since its very beginning, and will likely forever be. However, Sabaton's point of view is rather shallow and pompous. When combined with their glorious, upbeat sound, it really does sound like they are glorifying more than they are warning against or pointing at the horrors of. The only thing you ever seem to hear about from them are the heroic tales, no matter their circumstances. On this particular single, the lyrics are surprisingly vague, too, you barely hear anything factual about the ship. And there's a much better song about the battleship that we can compare it to: M.S. Bismarck by Asphyx manages to telĺ an entire history of the ship's first and only battle within the same amount of time while also featuring one of the best guitar sounds ever, legendary riffs and vocals, a much more thought out structure… I could go on and on but you get the point. I'm not trying to say pOWeR MEtaL bAD, just that there's way better stuff out there.

So yeah, another staple for the fans, an empty thrill for anyone else.