BAND : Sabaton
COUNTRY: Sweden
ALBUM : The Last Stand
YEAR : 2016
GENRE : Power Metal
LABEL : Nuclear Blast
LINE UP :

Joakim Brodén - Vocal
Pär Sundström - Bass
Thobbe Englund - Guitars
Hannes Van Dahl - Drums
Chris Rörland - Guitars

This Swedes are famous for their passionate military lectures that are teaching us history facts since 1999. So no wonder that they quickly became legends, mostly because of their power metal hymns mixed with energetic stage performance and due to the fact that they never disappoint and would do anything for their fans.
I’ve been listening to these guys since they released their 2005. debut Primo Victoria so I am proud of being able to follow their evolution through all these years, with headphones and on the stage. I even had the honor on the two occasions to meet the band on a drink and talk about all those stuff that fans like to know. They are really simple ordinary guys with a great sense of humor and with dedication that exceeds most of the bands in the genre.

Since 2012 there has been a major lineup change, with only vocalist and bass player staying from the original lineup. Personally I prefer the masterpieces made with the original lineup ‘cause I am not a fan of the sound that was brought with this fresh new blood. The ex-members formed band called Civil War.
 
Sabaton’s 8th and latest studio album “The Last Stand” is a collection of tales about battles fought to the last man despite of the bad odds, which in fact is an evolution of the previous album “Heroes” where they talked about great heroes of WWII. Their records are history books teaching us that war is a bitch and should never be repeated if we are ready to learn from our mistakes. We must never forget the horrors of war.

This album is packed with 12 diverse songs each one carrying a unique message. Some of these songs are better than others, like my favs “Winged Hussars”, “Last Dying Breath” and “Sparta”. Other songs are not bad but are not so memorable.

Album opener “Sparta” kicks in like a punch in the face with highly enjoyable cinematic performance. It is obviously story about famous 300 Spartans.
 
Second one is “Last Dying Breath”, another bombastic piece of art that is dedicated to Serbian military major Dragutin Gavrilović and his troops who laughed in the face of death during superior Austro-Hungarian attack on Belgrade. 

Here comes something refreshing and unpredictable: first single and a great song called “Blood Of Bannockburn”, which is accompanied with a seducing bagpipe melody, introduces us to a First Scottish Independence War of 1314. when a Scottish king Robert the Bruce and his small army fought a victory against larger army of English king Edward II.

“Diary of an Unknown Soldier” is a short monologue of a soldier remembering the horrors of 1918. battle of the Argonne Forest in France marked as deadliest battle in U.S. history where 55 000 Americans and Germans lost their lives.

It acts as a perfect introduction to the “Lost Battalion”, also a story about Argonne forest offensive, namely the part where 554 U.S. soldiers were isolated and surrounded by German forces and almost all of them were slaughtered. Song on its own is slow and lacks energy.

Next one is “Rorke Drift”, a tribute to the 1879. Anglo-Zulu war, where 150 British and colonial troops defended the mission station against 4000 Zulu warriors. It has darker energy that lacks in the “Lost Battalion” but is easily forgettable.

The title song “The Last Stand” also lacks energy but despite that it is great song. It starts with bells alarming the Habsburg attack on capital of Christendom, the Rome.

The 1988. battle for “Hill 3234” is a tribute to 39 Soviet soldiers that boldly defended their position on an unnamed hill against 400 Mujahideen rebels in Afghanistan. This one is similar to the “Last Dying Breath” in the terms of energy and mood. 

Another energetic and bombastic song is “Shiroyama”, talking about Samurai rebellion against Imperial Japanese army in 1877. There were 60 Imperial soldiers for every Samurai warrior so it is obvious who was slaughtered.
 
The band proved on few occasions that they have a special bond with their Polish fans so it is no wonder that they are glorifying their cavalry. The 1683. Battle of Vienna is depicted in “Winged Hussars” for it is the most important battle for the Christian forces against invading Muslim Ottoman Empire. In this battle Polish cavalry played the crucial role and it marked the beginning of Ottoman withdrawal from the European territory. This song is the most bombastic of all songs on the album and is perfect stage opener or closer. It wreaks havoc from the beginning till the end.

The last single is about the strangest battle of WWII. Why? I will leave up to you to find out why. “The Last Battle” is a great closing song, melodic and epic like most of their stuff.

The album also has four bonus songs: cover of Stan Ridgway’s  “Camouflage” about Vietnam war, cover of Judas Priest’s “All Guns Blazing”, cover of Iron Maiden’s “Afraid to Shoot Strangers” and also a cover of Twisted Sister’s “Burn in Hell”. I have only the good words about this covers, but I have to say that I prefer the “All Guns Blazing”.

The best way to sum up this history book of an album: slightly predictable, highly enjoyable and easily digestible. As I already said I am fan of their earlier work and the last few studio records are not what I expected from them. And that by no means does not mean that I don’t like their newer work but I know they can do so much more. We want more keyboards and louder guitars, more metal. And songs just seem repeatable as like they are just playing on the safe side. In total, this album is a great album but not perfect as they used to be. But on the other side this one proves to be leaning to the old road. Who knows, maybe the new lineup needed some time to adapt and mature. Nevertheless, it is obvious that the band continues the good old tradition and any older fan would again find itself on an already established and known terrain.

 

 

SABATON - The Last Stand (2016)

01. Sparta
02. Last Dying Breath
03. Blood of Bannockburn
04. Diary of an Unknown Soldier
05. The Lost Battalion
06. Rorke’s Drift
07. The Last Stand
08. Hill 3234
09. Shiroyama
10. Winged Hussars
11. The Last Battle
12. Camouflage (bonus)
13. All Guns Blazing (bonus)
14. Afraid to Shoot Stranger (bonus)
15. Burn in Hell (bonus)​