Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

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Band
Sabaton
Title
The Art of War
Type
LP/EP
Company
Black Lodge
YOR
2008
Style
Power
4/7/2009 - Review by: Raising Iron

Sabaton
The Art of War

Company: Black Lodge
Release: 2008
Genre: Power
Reviewer: Raising Iron

  • Power metal with a bit of bombast



  • After the release of 2008's The Art of War, Sabaton more than deserve to be on a major metal label to get some much more needed promotion. The band continue with their dissection and disposition of all things related to war, but on this release, they construct a unique spin on the idea of a concept album.

    For the unstudied, The Art of War is actually an infamous book written by the Chinese mathematician, Sun Tzu, somewhere in the 4th century B.C. The premise is built into 13 chapters, each revealing an aspect of military strategy based on Taoist beliefs. What Sabaton have done is written 13 tracks, each based on chapter of the book. What makes this album slightly more unique is not that they wrote songs directly about a chapter from the book, but rather they wrote songs about actual, historical military conflicts that were fought using the principles described in a given chapter.

    Enough of the history lesson and lyrical content though, let's get on to the hearty ration of music on the march here. The thing that's instantly striking about this release is the prominent placement of keyboards in the song structures; they don't necessarily dominate the songs, but they are up front and bear the breaks in the songs between one section and the next, yet the guitars are still heavy, prevalent, and carry the day. The Swedish accent and gruff tone of vocalist Joakim Broden lends an air of authenticity to the stories, especially with his forcefully rolled "rrr's". The entire campaign is wrapped up in an accelerated, mid-paced procession of traditional heavy/power metal. The songs are quite catchy, especially come chorus time, and capture the stories well. The huge choruses in "Panzerkampf" and "The Price of a Mile", will have you singing along in no time, and have to become cornerstones of their live show. There really isn't a bad song on here; there being an actual ten of them, while the remaining three tracks are short, female spoken word. Other songs begin or end with similar short spoken word sections, giving a quick description as to the theory of the given chapter, and whilst the songs are good, they're covering heavily trampled terrain, as there's nothing truly new or ground-breaking with this disc.

    The cd can be ordered in traditional jewel case version, or if you're looking to learn a bit more, there is a deluxe edition available which comes with a copy of the book. If you're already familiar with Sabaton, you're sure to like this, as it's easily their best work yet, and if straight up, heavy, power metal with a bit of bombast is youre tactical choice, these soldiers will win you over!


    • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
      4 :AVE RATING

    ALL REVIEWS FOR: SABATON
    TITLE
    DOR
    COMPANY
    REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
    Attero Dominatus
    2006
    Black Lodge
    Etiam9/14/2007
    3
    Carolus Rex
    2012
    Nuclear Blast
    Greg Watson5/12/2012
    3.5
    Heroes
    2014
    Nuclear Blast
    Eric Compton5/2/2014
    4
    Primo Victoria
    2005
    Black Lodge
    Eric Compton3/24/2005
    -
    The Art of War
    2008
    Black Lodge
    Raising Iron4/7/2009
    4
    The Last Stand
    2016
    Nuclear Blast
    Eric Compton9/12/2016
    3.5

    ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: SABATON
    INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE
    Joakim BrodnEric Compton5/16/2005


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