Valkyrian Music

Sabaton
The War To End All Wars (History Edition)
Released 4th March 2022
Power Metal
Released via Nuclear Blast Records

World-renowned Swedish power metallers Sabaton are back with yet another historically themed album. ‘The War To End All Wars’ is the sequel to their 2019 release ‘The Great War’, continuing with the theme of World War I. This time time I opted to check out the limited ‘History Edition’ version which includes some voiceover narrative intro about the historical events which inspired the songs. It’s an optional extra treat for the history buffs among the metalhead population but entertaining nonetheless.

So anyway, moving on to the music. Unlike their previous opus, this album seems to be big on the ballads. I’ll start with my favorites; the best of the ballads is the anthemic, piano-centered Christmas Truce with an emotionally charged chorus that is both sombre and memorable. Stormtroopers is another good non-ballad with some decent guitar riffs. Then there’s the energetic and bombastic The Unkillable Soldier, which is easily my favorite track on the album. It is the fastest song, packed with great guitar work and a showcase for Joakim Brodén’s melodic vocals. I really enjoyed reading about the soldier who inspired the song too. Then there’s the keyboard-driven Soldier of Heaven, another catchy song that I enjoyed singing along to.

In summary, ‘A War To End All Wars’ is a decent effort from Sabaton. Music-wise it’s not dramatically different from its predecessor ‘The Great War’. For a long time fan like me I pretty much knew what to expect from it. Not all the songs are great but I find myself discovering new favorites with every listen.

7/10

Iza Raittila

This entry was posted on 7th March 2022 at 7:29 pm and is filed under Review with tags Power Metal, Sabaton. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.