A Succinct Commentary on Sabaton's Studio Albums

The world must prepare for Sabaton's nuclear attack on mundane power metal!

Sweden's Sabaton were conceived in 1999 and in a brief space of time, they have ascended to the upper echelons of modern power metal. This is punctuated adequately by their recent signing to Nuclear Blast Records a few weeks ago. To this day, they have four full-length efforts and one tentatively due next year.

Primo Victoria [2005]

Sabaton's official debut album Primo Victoria, released on Black Lodge, redefined the benchmark for modern power metal bands. The archetypal high pitched falsetto vocals are substituted for a macho low-pitched voice, almost tip-toeing into growling territory. Guitars produce electrifying, razor sharp riffs in a power metal fashion, more like Children of Bodom than Gamma Ray but still nothing like the Finnish quintet. The drums sound bombastic, truly in-your-face and refusing to stick to the monotonous double-bass drumming most power metal acts feel comfortable with. The keyboards are fiery and intense, literally making the music sweat. All of these attributes connect together seamlessly to underscore Sabaton's central theme: war, a theme not frequently discussed within a power metal context. All of the lyrics are related to war and vocalist Joakim Broden is so passionate in his approach that the topics become infectious and the listener wants to know what exactly he speaks about. The only song excluded from the war talk is closing number 'Metal Machine' which a light-hearted heavy metal track formulated with the song titles of well-known metal bands.

Attero Dominatus [2006]

It would be futile to argue that Sabaton's second album is wildy discernable from their debut (the closing track, entitled 'Metal Crue' is another jokey metal song with lyrics created by the names of popular metal bands) but Attero Dominatus does provide evidence of Sabaton's evolution over the last year. Songs are more streamlined and sound more like anthems, with offerings like the title track, 'Nuclear Attack', 'Back in Control' and 'In the Name of God' packing a hefty punch to the listener. These songs are Sabaton at their sharpest and most dynamic, comfortable in what they do with formidable execution. Sabaton's lengthiest song to date is on this album, the melancholy 'Rise of Evil', describing with accuracy the rise of the Third Reich. This is arguably the best song Sabaton have committed to tape for its abundant maturity, foreboding riffs and envious intensity. Although an improvement on Primo Victoria, a third album like this would do Sabaton no more favours; they have exhausted this style.

Metalizer [2007]

Sabaton's third album in three years, Metalizer is not strictly speaking exclusively new Sabaton material. Before the days of their debut album, the Swedes recorded two demos [1], conjoined in a best-of release entitled Fist for Fight in 2000. It was released on an obscure Italian record label, Underground Symphony. However, it is the second disc on Metalizer. The first disc is ostensibly re-recorded versions of songs from Fist for Fight in addition to a couple extra songs. This sounds more like traditional heavy/power metal with no amazing flair and few similarities to their first two albums. The guitars are not as poised as on the other work Sabaton have recorded but do retain some formidable riffs, and the vocals sound rawer and deeper than ever. Lyrical themes pay homage to fantasy, Tolkien and other power metal clichés. Many of these songs can be considered filler tracks. It would appear Sabaton released Metalizer so fans could have the opportunity to obtain Sabaton's true origins, which is an honest move. They no longer play any of these songs in their live set [2].

The Art of War [2008]

Sabaton retain their consistency in releasing albums each year and The Art of War, their latest album to date, hits shelves in 2009. The band have been enriched over the years and showcase it in the near-fifty minutes of this album. The acquisition of a proper keyboard player [3] means the keyboard takes a more interactive stance on the album, sounds very prevalent and plays different roles on different songs. Only 'Unbreakable' and 'Talvisota' demonstrate obvious trademarks from the Primo/Attero days. The music sounds even more intense and the guitar riffs are more substantial and experimental. Although the lyrical themes are still war-driven (this time there is no party metal track), 'Cliffs of Gallipoli' has an almost joyous mood while 'The Price of a Mile' sounds cinematically upsetting. 'Union (Slopes of St. Benedict)' is a superlatively creative songs that even utilises elements of folk metal in an innovative fashion. 'Firestorm' is frenetic, certain to increase heart rates with a genuine sense of urgency. The album is divided by brief samples of a woman reading selections from Sun Tzu's 'The Art of War' book that are supposed to correspond to the following song. Fortunately, unlike so many death metal bands, the sample use is not abused so the album does not become hideously fragmented. Musical explosions occur everywhere on this release with ground-pounders like 'Ghost Division' and '4o:1', marking this a relentless album for power metal and Sabaton's most articulated release yet.

Teamed with performances at Graspop, Wacken and other major metal festivals, Sabaton reached large audiences and with a captivating, energetic live show stuffed with tracks that invite the metal congregations to sing along. It is unsurprising that Sabaton have been signed to one of metal's biggest record labels, Nuclear Blast. They can only get even more popular now and are definitely ear-marked as being the next big thing in power metal. What can be anticipated from their forthcoming release is unknown, save the return of war lyrical themes; the band invited their fans to e-mail ideas of wars they would like to see covered in the next album and received over 10,000 replies. Until next year...

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[1] These were originally recorded approximately 1999/2000.

[2] They certainly played a few in 2007 on the tour for the album though.

[3] Frontman Joakim Broden used to handle keyboard duties and the band would hire a player on tour.

Adagio in Black - Why and How Adagio Changed

Originally written for: www.Soundshock.net

A country not recurrently associated with progressive metal, France is home to symphonic proggers Adagio. After forming in 2000, the band spawned their individual brand of melodic metal, tastefully influenced by Symphony X with strong neo-classical flourishes. In 2006, they released their third album 'Dominate' which showcased a signifiantly heavier sound for the band and the incorporation of growls. Although this stirred the original Adagio fanbase, the band felt in no way discouraged to continue honing their abilities with their heavier direction as they released their latest full-length 'Archangels in Black' earlier this year on Listenable Records. Before playing their first ever show in the UK, Soundshock sit down with main composer and guitarist Stéphan Forté and pick his brains on the new vocalist and sound of Adagio.

After Forté gets comfortable in the well-lit balcony of the Purple Turtle with odd members and roadies sound-checking on the stage below, he describes the primary alterations between Adagio's original sound and the one they have since adopted. "The first albums were way more progressive and neo-classical, then we decided to go straight because it's more enjoyable on stage; we have more fun playing darker stuff. All the progressive elements are still present but less complex, with lots of orchestra arrangements but with dark chord progressions." The implimentation of a heavier sound suggests that Forté is suddenly listening to more extreme metal bands, which seems like an interesting contradiction given that Adagio really only meddle with power, symphonic, neo-classical, progressive and the occasional gothic metal moment - typically melodic genres, far removed from the likes of atonal thrash or death metal. "I used to listen to a lot of death metal when I was younger then I went to progressive but now I'm coming back to what I like - the more aggressive stuff. Nowadays I really like Meshuggah, Dimmu Borgir, Job for a Cowboy and also Machine Head but we're still keeping the melodic side of the vocals but with some aggressive vocals in the background. The aggressive metal is more present now."

Indeed the vocals still remain predominantly melodic. Christian Palin from Finland joined Adagio last year and is the group's third vocalist. While his voice is certainly tailored for melodic metal, he succeeds his predecessors by offering the option of a well-defined, heavier vocal stance where necessary, like the difference between Russell Allen's voice from 'The Divine Wings of Tragedy' and the later 'Paradise Lost'. Forté is initially reluctant to explain why Palin is Adagio's best choice as the frontman himself sits in the room's corner, but reassures Forté that he can say what he wishes and to pretend that he is not in the room. "I like his personality. I think he's a great guy. The human approach is very important. Also, he's got great vocal abilities and a great range that really fits Adagio's vibe and Adagio's music." Palin's voice suits the band seamlessly because the band had half of the music written before he joined their ranks, meaning they knew exactly what they were looking for in a vocalist when they held their auditions, and the other half was conceived when they knew who their vocalist was.

'Archangels in Black' does feature growled vocals, as does the album preceeding it, 'Dominate'. However, 'Dominate' does not utilise black metal riffs or blastbeats. These techniques are rare in melodic metal as a whole so why does Forté believe they would improve his music? "The thing I like is that it gives a special mix. It comes naturally. I only heard when I composed the album "I want to do something heavier, really heavier." That was the main thing but all the music came naturally." Why was he so keen to release a substantially heavier album? He simply answers with a grin on his face "Because I like it! The vocals, the bass, the drums...You like heavy metal, you like heavy stuff. I don't know why. It's quite difficult to describe. I like the massiveness, the big war machine crushing everything. For the moment, still melody keeps the music because melody to me is relaly important so I don't want to move into anything like grindcore or stuff like this because it's not the same. I think the more we go, the heavier we'll be."

With the advancement of an aggressive and more sinister atmosphere and a vocalist willing to toss some brutal growls into the mix, additionally Adagio have visually had an overhaul. Album art, promo photos and their new video 'Fear Circus' feature stereotypical gothic and dark imagery. "I have always been into really dark kind of things. We're into dark arts and stuff like this. Gothic - I'm not sure because it represents so many things, just like when you say 'metal' it represents a lot. Even though we're not gothic metal, I'm into it but not all of us [are]."

As with anything, particuarly a genre like metal when cynics appear to lurk behind every musical corner, there are those who strongly dislike Adagio's extreme metal-influenced sound. When 'Archangels in Black' was originally released, numerous isolated Adagio fans sprinted to the Internet to vent their frustrated opinions. While some have warmed to the album after repeated listens, others have resolutely refused to allow the release to grow on them. What does Forté have to say about these doubters? He just shrugs. "We know that some people will be disappointed but we know that some people will like it so we decide to do what we feel because if we think about what these people will think, we're not doing anything honest and I really wanted to do this. You can't please everybody."