Sabaton
Heroes
Nuclear Blast
2014
Sabaton saw the earth moving under their feet just a little bit before the release of their previous album “Carolus Rex” (read the review here). They didn’t stand back not for a while. They immediately gathered their pieces and stood back on their feet in no time! Only very few bands could have “come back” after such a major strike of fate. I guess that’s the inner strength of the true Epic Metal brothers!
The fans were expecting to see if these major line-up changes would affect the band’s music and songwriting. As long as there’s Joakim & Pär, Sabaton will always be on top. In any case, Joakim is the band’s major songwriter and Pär also contributes. So no harm done at all. The new members, Chris Rörland (guitar), Thobbe Englund (guitar) & Hannes van Dahl (drums) have already been on the road with the rest of the guys for quite some time and they have been finely acclimatized to the band’s needs. The performances are great, the epic metal feeling “overflows” & each track delivers a nice “hero” story to the fans. The production is top-notch for once again. The band worked with the renowned producer Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, Dimmu Borgir, Amon Amarth, Pain, Celtic Frost among others) again, so the final outcome speaks for itself.
The actual CD features 10 tracks. The digi-CD and the earbook edition feature some bonus tracks as well. In any case, I wouldn’t miss the digi-CD due to “7734” & the unanticipated Manowar tribute track “Man of War”! The new Sabaton (live) sing-a-long hymns will utterly be “Night Witches”, “No Bullets Fly”, “Inmate 4859”, “To Hell and Back”, “Resist and Bite”, “Far from the Fame” and “Hearts of Iron”. Prepare yourselves to sing them along with the band when the time comes. Of course, it would be a miss not to refer to the exceptional epic song “The Ballad of Bull”. A very emotional & touching ballad at large.
Ultimately, they haven’t lost none of their trademark characteristics… they delivered one of their strongest albums to date and they’re still marching on taking no prisoners. Definitely Sabaton is one of the very few consistent, hardworking & creative epic metal bands of our time… Hail!
The fans were expecting to see if these major line-up changes would affect the band’s music and songwriting. As long as there’s Joakim & Pär, Sabaton will always be on top. In any case, Joakim is the band’s major songwriter and Pär also contributes. So no harm done at all. The new members, Chris Rörland (guitar), Thobbe Englund (guitar) & Hannes van Dahl (drums) have already been on the road with the rest of the guys for quite some time and they have been finely acclimatized to the band’s needs. The performances are great, the epic metal feeling “overflows” & each track delivers a nice “hero” story to the fans. The production is top-notch for once again. The band worked with the renowned producer Peter Tägtgren (Hypocrisy, Dimmu Borgir, Amon Amarth, Pain, Celtic Frost among others) again, so the final outcome speaks for itself.
The actual CD features 10 tracks. The digi-CD and the earbook edition feature some bonus tracks as well. In any case, I wouldn’t miss the digi-CD due to “7734” & the unanticipated Manowar tribute track “Man of War”! The new Sabaton (live) sing-a-long hymns will utterly be “Night Witches”, “No Bullets Fly”, “Inmate 4859”, “To Hell and Back”, “Resist and Bite”, “Far from the Fame” and “Hearts of Iron”. Prepare yourselves to sing them along with the band when the time comes. Of course, it would be a miss not to refer to the exceptional epic song “The Ballad of Bull”. A very emotional & touching ballad at large.
Ultimately, they haven’t lost none of their trademark characteristics… they delivered one of their strongest albums to date and they’re still marching on taking no prisoners. Definitely Sabaton is one of the very few consistent, hardworking & creative epic metal bands of our time… Hail!