Coat of Arms

Now I've found a great use for my iPad, writing reviews on the go :), I was not sure about the screen keyboard but it's so much more comfortable than the iPhone's on which I would never have the patience to write a review. The first time I've heard Sabaton, I was slightly put off by the vocals, I thought they had no place for such a melodic, though highly rhythmic type of metal. I then remembered a couple of bands that had the same effect on me at first, like Grave Digger and Children of Bodom, but whose epic factor and great music forced me to deal with harsher vocals. Of course Sabaton vocals aren't harsh, they are just different and take a little time to get used to, but once you do get used with them you realize that they are an integrant part of Sabaton's sound. Sabaton's lyrics follow big battles and war in general, without taking sides and usually just using historical battle as a backgrund to unleash their grandiose Anthem like style of Power Metal. And at that they suceed like no other band before. I myself I'm usually not a fan of the war subject, yet Sabaton keeps me intersted and I find myself researching more info online concerning some of the songs, the battle it tells....etc. If I should sum up the band with only one word I would have to go with the word Epic.

The previous effort from the band, The Art of War, was a great album overall but the concept album wore thin very quickly, and listening to the sun tzu quote in between each songs every time was quickly getting boring and I often ended up skipping them. But I don't like to have to skip any tracks on an album, except occasionally. The album contained some strong epic songs but it also contained some filler and too many mid tempo songs for my taste. What I like the most with Sabaton is the faster tracks, and while almost all their albums have plenty mid-tempo tracks, most of the time they are epic and powerful enough to keep me entertained and I had found that The Art of War was a tad lacking on that department. Its an album I rarely revisit while I often go back to Attero Dominatus for its sheer deflagration of power and epic factor. But to the things at hand now : Coat of Arms starts with an extremely catchy yet powerful song, named after the album. This is probably one of Sabaton's best song ever. Lyrically it counts a battle from Greece in the beginning of last century and that might help too, being a patriot, to hear such a bombastic chorus with words like "Glory of Hellas" or "Blood of King Leonidas". Nevereless the song flows perfectly and is fast and delivers from beginning to end. The album contains almost no boring moments and while there are still too many mid-tempos songs / moments for my taste, the overall album is stronger than The Art of War was. There are unbelievable songs behind the opener, like Screaming Eagles or White Death that tells the story of a sniper. These songs are out of this world and they are furiously fast, and my only gripe with Sabaton in general would be to not focus more on delivering that type of songs, but the band has the right to express their creativity and maybe they don't want to be typecast as a power speed metal band which they would be should all their repertoire sounded similar to these songs (think Dragonforce if you will). Nevertheless all songs on the album are great ones, cubical guitar riffs and awesome vocal melodies (especially during the epic choruses) as well as a very strong rhythm section all help to deliver a fantastic album overall. One I don't have to skip any tracks on, and one I can listen over and over again during the course of an entire week, sometimes 10-15 times in a row without getting bored !

This new offering from Sabaton is a fantastic album, and if you like the band already you will no doubt be very pleased with Coat of Arms. If you don't know them then this is a great album to discover this very talented band. I urge you to see them live if you can, in 2008 in Wacken they really blew our minds !!! What an energy on stage ! In closing I would say that while my favorite album remains Attero Dominatus, Coat of Arms easily takes a close second place and is a step in the right direction from The Art of War (which was still an excellent album mind you). One of the highlight of the year for me so far. Long live Sabaton and see you on the road !