Sabaton are a band I first heard a couple of years ago and have a few of their albums ( this is their ninth studio album). Their albums are all about wars and conflicts ranging from the military tactician of ancient China General Su Tsu to an album called Last Stand with tracks about Rorke's Drift and Bannockburn with others besides, they also have an album about their native Sweden detailing the Swedish Empire of the 17th century.
Their music is loud, energetic and tells stories. With my obsession with all things World War One to hear their new album was entitled 'The Great War' was immediately of interest to me. It came out on the 19th July but my copy from Amazon arrived on the 18th!
It has eleven tracks covering many aspects and counties involved in the war which I thought was a good all encompassing approach.
The first track 'The Future of War' is about the advent of the tank (the first major action involving tanks wasn't until 1917 so the tracks aren't in any chronological order) , its a good opener for the album.
Next we have 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' which goes east to cover Lieut TE Lawrence's exploits in Arabia another rattling good track that also mentions how the Arabs were betrayed once they had helped win the peace. Track 3 is called '82nd All The Way' and tells the story of Sergeant Alvin York from Tennessee. ( a great film called Sergeant York starring Gary Cooper is one to catch if you haven't seen it) York, a much decorated soldier took the surrender of 132 German soldiers! The guitar solo by Chris Rorland in this is particularly good.
Track four is about an action on the Eastern front when the Germans gassed Russian troops to take Osowiec fortress in NE Poland. The track is called 'The attack of the dead men.' This is from the German reaction when they stormed the fortress after the gas attack. The few survivors appeared with bloody rags to their mouths due to the gas, the Germans took flight because it was as if the dead were attacking them. The incident is known by the title of the track. It's a good one and tells the story succinctly.
Track five is the only track on the album that I take issue with, entitled 'Devil Dogs' is about the US Marine Corps attack on Belleau Wood in June 1918. The song keeps on referring to the troops as the USA Marines, they were never called that and such a schoolboy error I find quite irritating. They have always been the US Marine Corps. Rant over.
Strangely enough the track that annoyed me the most is followed by my favourite track called 'The Red Baron.' It of course refers to Baron Manfred Von Richthofen a brilliant German fighter ace. He was eventually shot down over Northern France and buried with full military honours by the Australians. A rattling good track with a great machine gun type score. By far my fave of the album.
'The Great War' features the Third Battle of Ypres, better known as Passchendaele of 1917, another good track that in some ways sounds like one or two of the others, not that I'm complaining!
'A ghost in the trenches' is about the Canadian Frances Pegahmagabow credited with killing 378 Germans and capturing a further 300, how he didn't get the Victoria Cross I do not know, the lyrics of the next track 'Fields of Verdun' do perhaps leave a little to be desired. The rhyming of Verdun, begun, run, son, one and gun are going down the road of Eurovision!
'The war to end all wars' deals with Armistice and just how many were killed. It beggars believe. 'In Flanders Fields' ends the album, its a short track sung by a choir so has little relation to Sabaton, it ends the albums very quietly and is a bit naff if you ask me. Sabaton aren't a quiet band, I get what there're doing, it's all rather sombre which I understand but I just think they could have finished the album with a bang and it goes out on bit of a whimper which is a shame.
On balance its a good album. I like Sabaton so they'd have to really cock up to get a thumbs down from me, it does sound like a lot of their other albums but that isn't nessaccarily a bad thing!
