The Art of War

Swedish power metallers Sabaton are a juggernaut, to say the least, with their story beginning in 2005 for the most part. Bursting onto the scene, taking everyone by storm and taking away the thought of a fresh new power metal band. For the most part though, it all seems to be heard before... the crunchy riffs, keyboard melodies, the epic vocal lines and choruses with double bass driving everything Well then yes, there might not be anything new here, nor even noticed on Sabaton's fourth full length album; so why check it out?

Well, first off Sabaton may have a similar style to bands like Hammerfall, Grave Digger, Paragon and Edguy, but they have a different type of approach as well. The theme of war and glory is all over the place in power metal, but usually done in a fashion of swords and sorcery not necessarily the World Wars and modern warfare. Sabaton have embraced it time and again, with their powerful and highly memorable debut Primo Victoria, copying the blueprint to success almost word for word with the follow-up Attero Dominatus and continuing with a slightly more renewed interest with Metalizer. The Art of War brings on a slightly more bombastic and epic nature to their style, as ou can tell right off the bat with the theme based off Sun Tzu's writings and the typical atmosphere from this album. Spoken word intros do their best to add to the glory, passion and power behind this album, though at times are a bit unnecessary seemingly, as Elvenking realized previously. The Art of War kicks off with a typical Sabaton opener, gloriously capturing your attention and more importantly your voice, commanding you to sing along; as this is easily Sabaton's catchiest sing-a-long since Primo Victoria added with the memorable synths and keys, a pure anthem indeed.

One thing Sabaton and most importantly, vocalist Joakim Broden, have accomplished is proving that they can write clear cut catchy fucking power metal. The kind of music that is stuck in your head hours later, humming that one keyboard melody, or slightly off handed air guitaring to that intro riff, or singing under your breath the chorus to that epic chorus. Ballads are common in power metal and Sabaton are not ones to fall from cliches, so with the semi-ballad and longest song on the album Unbreakable manages to be somewhat less memorable than the other more passionate and piano laden Cliffs of Galipolli, though containing a nice mid paced riff about half way into the song and your usual "Stairway to Heaven"-like guitar solo, building momentum and growing in tempo.

It's safe to say the best songs on The Art of War, as well as all of Sabaton's discography, are the things that they manage to do best. The fast paced numbers, where you want to raise your fist in the air Manowar-style and shout along losing yourself in the glorious atmosphere and pounding double bass. Songs like the opener, 40-1, Firestorm rip through the air like fucking artillery rounds and smash your guts and vocal chords everywhere. Don't expect a let down, as Sabaton find no glory in such shenanigans and pull it off very well. Another thing that I've enjoyed in the past with Sabaton are their mid paced gallop songs that make your head bang in a good simple rhythm, as shown in the title track. Shout along too, Sabaton love that shit.

So, don't expect anything but solid material from these war torn Swedes as they aren't compromising anything except sticking true to themselves, metal and the powerful sound that they've crafted since day one. Powerful and heavy metal, aggressive when need be, epic and glorious all throughout. Joakim Broden manages to pull of his style perfectly, with a badass persona and doing what power metal vocalists should be, executing the role with POWER! The highlights of the album are easily the more memorable sing along songs, faster tempo songs and heavier moments, but don't forget the more glorious and passionate moments like the occasional ballad. Sabaton are a true metal band with a powerful sound, though nothing innovative and original or new for the most part, it's always a guaranteed and good sound from these guys. Definitely their best material hands down since Primo Victoria, I swear you'll be just like me... trying your hardest to get the opener Ghost Division out of your head for days!