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
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The name Twilight Force hinted of power metal, and the dragon in the backdrop brought a positive certainty, even before the fast, chirpy melodies flooded the halls. A strange mix but they’re from Falun too and Chrileon was even Sabaton’s live backup singer back in the day (and rumor has it that the Spartans in the Sabaton song are played by four of them but I haven’t been able to confirm it) so from a friendship point of view, a fantasy power metal band opening for a militant heavy metal one makes perfect sense.
The “Generation Clash” – song they sadly didn’t play – went wild the moment Christopher Williams stood behind the drums screaming in salute. We have a saying in Portugal that goes something like “old are the rags”, meaning that “old” is a word that shouldn’t be applied to people, and the youthful attitude that Wolf Hoffmann & Co. put on that night could as well be the incarnation of such saying. From recent tracks like “Stampede” and “Stalingrad” to classics such as “Princess Of The Dawn” and the mandatory “Metal Heart” and “Balls To The Wall”, there wasn’t a single moment where “age” meant nothing more than “experience”. The synced headbanging and guitar hero poses, which I usually find so cliche, just felt right this time. I guess it all depends on who’s bringing the cliches to life after all. My heart was full.
Even though I was happy to see the old schoolers getting off their couches to support Accept, I was sad to see many of them leave and not give a chance to Sabaton. Well, their loss – as usual, the Swedes kicked ass. Even if I appreciated the 2014 gig more, their performance skills are unquestionable.
They’ve been using their cover of Status Quo “In The Army Now” as intro since the beginning of the tour, so it’s not in memory of the Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt, who died last Christmas Eve. But it was a beautiful coincidence, and nice change – as much as I love Europe’s “The Final Countdown”.
Valkyrian Music 