Label - Nuclear Blast
Release Date - 4 March 2022
Words- Chris Fletcher
Listen up everybody; school is in session. Swedish power metal juggernauts Sabaton are back with their 10th studio album ‘The War To End All Wars’, here to regale us with more tales surrounding the First World War. Following on from previous record ‘The Great War’ the band realised that there were many more stories left to tell about this most rich of topics, and thus they have returned to this particular well of inspiration once again.
‘The War To End All Wars’ is eleven tracks of pure theatricality, guaranteed to scratch any itch you might have for this style of bombastic metal. Starting and ending with a spoken word commentary that provides some background to the conflict helps to set the scene, (even if it does sound quite close to the opening scenes of the Lord of the Rings trilogy). Catchy choruses, such as that on ‘Lady Of The Dark, give this album real staying power, whilst guitar solos that could have come straight out of an 80's Bon Jovi ballad will make you pump your fist in the air so much that it might be best to not listen to this album in public.
Elsewhere on the record the pounding drum beats, which are impossible not to nod your head along to, give the album a real gallop, helping to make this really feel like a journey. Fifth track ‘Soldier Of Heaven’ mixes things up with an electronic intro followed by momentum building guitar leads, serving as a welcome palate cleanser in the middle of the record, whilst later on ‘The Valley Of Death’ bursts out the gate sounding like the soundtrack to an anime. Sabaton knows how to show variety.
One of the most interesting aspects of the record is how each track is related to a particular person or event connected to the First World War, and aren’t just generic songs about the horrors of battle. This is most notably demonstrated on ‘Christmas Truce’ which, after starting with a piano intro followed up with strings, shows the bands ability to tell a good story both musically and lyrically in order to really get you invested. This is followed by closing track ‘Versailles’, which brings back the spoken word narration in order to hint at what comes next both in a historical sense and potentially for the band's next project.
Power metal isn’t for everybody, but as Sabaton’s arena ticket sales will attest, it is for many. It is becoming increasingly undoubtable that when it comes to this particular genre, Sabaton is the gold standard. Everything power metal fans could hope for is here and executed to a high standard. Subject matter this serious shouldn’t be this fun, but Sabaton defy you to have a good time here.
8/10.
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