Sabaton are a heavy metal Happy Meal. Basically, you know what you’re going to get but the toy might be different from time to time. But, stick with us here, if you ordered a Happy Meal and it had Popcorn Chicken in it, would you take it back? Because Sabaton’s eighth LP, ‘The Last Stand’, isn’t exactly what you’d expect the Swedes to serve up.
Their last album, ‘Heroes’, arrived in 2014, breaking from the Falun five-piece’s battle-worn lyrical formula to delve into the individual struggles of soldiers. ‘The Last Stand’, however, exclusively focuses on, er, last stands.
Sparta chronicles the Battle of Thermopylae – the oily, bloody conflict depicted in 300 – and it sounds like Gerard Butler was probably involved at some point, kicking Sabaton around the studio and making fun of their beards. The ‘HOO! HA!’ chants are overbearingly, wonderfully ridiculous, while Joakim Brodén delivers the line “Tonight they dine in Hell” with complete conviction.
The synths are back in the cheesiest of ways, harking back to ‘The Art Of War’ and, while it lacks the opening punch that Ghost Division, Coat Of Arms and Night Witches administered on previous records, Sparta is an admirable effort.
As with most Sabaton releases, familiar flags are flown elsewhere and ‘The Last Stand’ could only be recognised as its creators’ handiwork. Winged Hussars and the title track both rely on stripped-back verses, massive synth leads and choral, god-like backing vocals when the chorus crashes in. It’s bouncy, infectious nonsense that’d fit right in on ‘The Art of War’ or ‘Primo Victoria’, but offers little in the way of variation from the band’s back catalogue.
A couple of tracks march through foreign territories though, and this is where ‘The Last Stand’ sinks and swims. Blood of Bannockburn boasts bagpipes, Hammond organ and is, we’re assured, the first Sabaton song ever to be written in a major key. And it’s glorious, playing out like Airbourne covering Deep Purple while leafing through Stuart Copeland’s Spyro soundtracks.
The Lost Battalion, though, attempts a similar epic conquest to that of 2012’s Carolus Rex and falls a bit short, helped in no part by an annoying gunfire effect running on the drums. Seeing as they’re a band obsessed with war, it’s a surprise that it’s taken this long for Sabaton to use actual weapons as percussion. Hannes van Dahl’s bass drum ringing through the chorus is great, mind.
‘The Last Stand’ isn’t exactly Metallica swapping thrash for arena rock. But the fact that, eight records rigidly plastered to a formula in, Sabaton are willing to take risks like The Lost Battalion and Blood of Bannockburn says a lot about this band and their rise through metal’s lower and middle echelons. Long may they advocate silliness and military education.
Sabaton Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:
Tue January 10 2017 - DUBLIN Vicar Street
Wed January 11 2017 - GLASGOW O2 Academy Glasgow
Fri January 13 2017 - MANCHESTER O2 Apollo
Sat January 14 2017 - LONDON O2 Academy Brixton
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