Carolus Rex

This was my first real taste of a full-length Sabaton album and my first full taste of Swedish history. Sabaton puts together a concept album based around the rise and fall of the Swedish Empire from the start of the 30 Years War until the end of the reign of Charles XII (Karl XII) of Sweden--better known by his nickname, Carolus Rex. The tracks give a very detailed account of a history that previously, almost no one knew about. Now, just about every Sabaton fan, every Swede, and every Northern European history buff knows full well about this area of history.

The opening track, which I consider to be "The Lion from the North", starts off with a fast-paced melody leading into a story of the epic battles of Gustaf Adolph of Sweden. The whammy bar solo had me thinking this was going to be a completely modernist-style musical album with these kinds of riffs throughout. I was wrong. That was the only track to feature a whammy bar in the solo. Throughout, they keep a traditional blues-rock style legato in their guitar solos (which are not lacking). They show depth in their melody as well as they extend from more of a heavy-slow pace, not quite doom, more of a Dio style heaviness, to a fast-tempo riff speed. The ballads of "A Lifetime of War" and "Long Live the King" would seem completely out of place if not for their being a part of the story line (lyrically). Musically, in comparison with the rest of the album, they almost seem more on the hard rock side of the metal/rock spectrum more than toward the metal. That said, there is still a strong riff and legato detectable in both of them. "Killing Ground", "1648", and "Poltava" are some of the more speedier tracks while "Carolus Rex" and "The Caroleans' Prayer" are the more slow-tempo songs.

The synthesizers are the real deal on this album. Daniel Myhr makes his presence felt as an ominous hum opens up the album leading into the pounding of "The Lion from the North". The synthesizers continue onward throughout the album providing the main course melodies of "Gott mit uns", "Carolus Rex", and "Poltava". "The Caroleans' Prayer" sounds as if a church organ opens up the song which matches the religious element dominant in the culture of the Swedish Empire. At times, it feels as if the synthesizers are dominating too much but in the areas where they remain more of a backer to the other instruments, they provide a smoother melody.

Joakim Broden is always great at barking out orders like a drill sergeant but here, it just doesn't go along quite well with the mood or story line of the album. While his baritone style vocals are not out of sync with the album's context, he should have done a much better job at toning down his drill sergeant-style barks. These are a good addition when the context is focused on modern war-fare but in this album, the focus is on post-Reformation era war-fare. Almost toward the enlightenment era in western history. He does mellow down more on the barking but the barking still remains a light presence. I feel it should have been eliminated entirely.

The drums seem as if they are being dragged along by the rest of the music. They flow according to necessity and aren't really setting a rhythm for the entirety of the album. The blast-beat drumming on the opening track is great but throughout the album, they sound more as if they are present to provide background noise entirely. It could be much worse though.

Overall, Sabaton has reached back to a more traditional style of metal which is a relief considering how awful the so-called metal industry has become lately. They are a thriving modern band in an era in which tradition is being crushed and the old style of metal which emphasized the distortion of the guitar and the heaviness of the pitch is being sent packing. The album has its strong moments and its weak moments but it is a solid addition to a heavy metal collection.