On a whole, they achieve this quite effectively, and the dual guitar work of Chris Rörland and Tommy Johansson makes for a heavy, yet infectious sound. Much of the music on the album is anthemic and obviously meant to stir the emotions of the listener. The song is highly melodic and features a quite catchy chorus as well. The song is about Germany’s Stormtrooper units who were formed towards the end of the war, whose specialty was quick infiltration, and speed in attacking trenches on the Western Front. It is followed directly by the first proper song “Stormtroopers” which like most songs is driven by the strong baritone voice of lead vocalist and keyboardist Joakim Brodén. The narration merges into the fast heavy riffing that power metal is known for the minimal lyrics set the stage that this will be “the war to end all wars” as it was hoped to be at the time. It’s a short song and tells the story of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, and the start of the war. The album begins with “Sarajevo” and spoken word from a female narrator. My oldest son, however, loves the band and got an album for Christmas, so I spent some time with him listening to ‘The Last Stand’ and I found myself impressed with the music, the passion, and obvious research that the band put into it. I must here admit to not being very familiar with that album, as in truth it’s only recently that I bothered to finally give the band a listen, I knew the name, and their themes, of course, but hadn’t gotten around to giving them a listen. It’s a follow-up to their 2019 album ‘The Great War’ and like that album deals with stories about WW I. And there is plenty of this new album to make fans of the band, and genre quite happy.Īs noted, this is a concept album, and like all their albums it is war-themed. But Sabaton, and their war-themed music, is assuredly not cheesy and has a degree of sophistication, and technique that makes my prog-filled heart happy. Now I will readily admit that I’m not the biggest power metal fan, a lot is pretty cheesy. It was a pleasure then, to receive the upcoming Sabaton album ‘The War To End All Wars’ which is another concept album, that combines history, and storytelling with driving power metal.

And the beautiful thing about music, and metal especially (in terms of modern music) is that these three things frequently appear together, very often in the form of concept albums, which as I’ve often mentioned, I love. The oldest of these is storytelling and history. I’ve always had many loves and interests that comfortably run alongside music.

All sabaton albums from worst to best