SABATON

(SWEDEN)

THE GREAT WAR

(2019)
LABEL:

NUCLEAR BLAST

GENRE:

HEAVY METAL

TAGS:
Epic, Symphonic, Theatrical
"More than in previous albums, this one oppresses and constitutes the soundtrack of war images from this past era."
CALGEPO (19.07.2019)  
4/5
(0) opinions (0) comment(s)
No one is supposed to ignore the fact that Sabaton has made his musical business the theme of the great conflicts that have plunged history into mourning. If sometimes this kind of approach is surrounded by criticism of the sincerity or seriousness of the project or to highlight its commercial aspect, there is no doubt that it does not affect the Swedes. Over the course of its discography, which required a lot of research to give it meaning, Sabaton has shown that its members are true history lovers and that the band participates, at its level, in the duty of memory necessary not to forget.

Looking back, 2018 marks the centenary of the end of the first world war, known as "The Great War". On November 11, 1918, at 5:15 a.m., the armistice was signed with the sad and terrifying observation in its wake that this conflict resulted in 18.6 million deaths and many more collateral victims. The symbolic date of November 11 (2018) coincides with the date on which Sabaton began writing his new album. If this is not the first time that the band has talked about the Great War, this time it is an entire disc dedicated to it, even promoting the project in Verdun itself, in the middle of the trenches, as close as possible to the battle sites, during a day gathering the band, journalists and historians.

Sabaton's strength is to have a very imaginative musical approach that testifies to the harshness and oppression of the fighting while giving it an epic side. Thus the listener takes to his face the grandiloquence and arrogance of the Red Baron ('The Red Baron') with his introduction to the Hammond organ espousing a composition by Bach but also the anguish of the trenches with the disturbing and theatrical singing of Joaquim ('A Ghost In The Trenchess'). Sabaton adds imposing choirs that enhance this epic relief, especially in the irresistible "Devil Dogs" with his solo that amplifies everything. The rhythmic bludgeoning accentuates this warlike immersion in the image of a shell storm falling from the sky, making the whole unbreathable.

If the listener remains on familiar ground, the Swedish combo knows how to maintain a constant progression from album to album in order to pursue the conquest of an artistic fullness. This involves small touches that we suspected in previous records and which appear much more marked or assumed here, notably by an ultra-developed symphonic side in 'The End Of The War To Ends All Wars' and especially in 'Great War', an anthology piece with a powerful and galvanizing hymn atmosphere, or by the very eighties glam rock atmosphere of '82 nd All The Way'. Finally, the band brings an extra touch of emotion with 'In Flanders Fields' performed a cappella by a choir after this deluge of notes, violence, riffs as sharp as the barbed wire of the battlefields. 

With "The Great War", Sabaton continues his work with sincerity and goes further in what he knows how to do. More than in previous albums, this one oppresses and constitutes the soundtrack of images from this past era, which come to us in the various documentaries.  We are looking forward to the next one....
- Official website

TRACK LISTING:
01. The Future Of Warfare
02. Seven Pillars Of Wisdom
03. 82nd All The Way
04. The Attack Of The Dead Men
05. Devil Dogs
06. The Red Baron
07. Great War
08. A Ghost In The Trenches
09. Fields Of Verdun
10. The End Of The War To End All Wars
11. In Flanders Fields

LINEUP:
Chris Rörland: Guitares
Hannes Van Dahl: Batterie
Joakim Brodén: Chant / Claviers
Pär Sundström: Basse
Tommy Johansson: Guitares
   
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