Band: SabatonAlbum: The Art of WarLabel: Black LodgeReleased: May 30
Power metal is a very unique genre in heavy metal. All of the songs generally involve dragons, Lord of the Rings, metal (the music) or war and honor. Sabaton is a power metal band that typically sings entirely about war — except for two songs about metal and ring wraiths — and The Art of War is no exception. All of the songs are about either principles of Sun Tzu’s treatise, the album’s namesake, or historic battles of WWI and II.
The CD opens up with a passage from Tzu’s book, only to fade into a synth-heavy power metal song about Erwin Rommel’s tank division invading France, aptly called “Ghost Division.” The song is one of the best on the album, and it has a catchy chorus that will have you singing along with a smile on your face and a fist raised high in the air.
Although nearly every song in The Art of War contains passages from Tzu’s writing, “40:1,” about the battle Wizna, is a song of glory with a catchy riff that just sucks you into the song and begs for repeated listens. “Cliffs of Gallipoli” is a pounding song with a warchant chorus that makes you want to march for glory, but is one of the slower tracks on the album; “Panzerkampf,” on the other hand, is quite possibly one of the most powerful songs on the album. It has a powerful riff and a catchy chorus that makes you feel like you’re at the battle of Kursk, watching the German army march into Russia. The many deaths of trench warfare in WWI inspired the song “The Prince of a Mile,” and you can feel the pain and fear those soldiers felt sitting in the trenches awaiting their fate. The chorus is the best on the album, showcasing the horror of trench warfare to create the most emotionally moving and heaviest song on the album. This somber song is then followed by an awesome closer about attacking with fire from the sky.This song is very upbeat, and, in the same vein as “Ghost Division,” a great way to close an album.
Sabaton has always written songs about the horrors of war, but also the glory that can be found in battle. Its CDs have always been very simplistic guitar-wise and in song structure, yet it somehow writes some of the catchiest songs I have ever heard. Their choruses will have you singingalong, raising your horns, praising the metal gods. However, this CD justwasn’t as good as it could have been. There are a few songs that just didn’t grip me like some on their earlier releases, such as Attero Dominatus and Metalizer. So it’s not perfect, but it’s still a good album that should be blared and enjoyed with friends before watching a Steven Segal or Chuck Norris film.