It’s a pretty feasible argument now that Sabaton and European heavy metal can be set on synonymous terms. The band have gained an increasing amount of popularity with their highly energetic approach to heavy metal, laced together with the epic themes of military history. The band take no rest after each musical victory, and return once again with their latest opus, ‘The Last Stand‘.
[tracklist]
01. Sparta
02. Last Dying Breath
03. Blood Of Bannockburn
04. Diary Of An Unknown Soldier
05. The Lost Battalion
06. Rorke’s Drift
07. The Last Stand
08. Hill 3234
09. Shiroyama
10. Winged Hussars
11. The Last Battle
[/tracklist]
[details]
[length]37:00[/length]
[record_label]Nuclear Blast[/record_label]
[release_date]19th August 2016[/release_date]
[/details]
We’ve arguably gotten to this point in Sabaton’s career now where you know what you are going to get with them. You know what you are going to get in each album, but that is not necessarily a bad thing – the most popular heavy metal bands in the world are the ones that stay consistent. They are the ones that won’t really give you a stunning release, yet they will never give you a bad one – just an album that is as entertaining as the last.
This is exactly where Sabaton is now evident from the opening track of ‘Sparta‘. It’s fist pumping heavy metal with incorporated chanting and synths that will most likely have you humming the hooks the entire day. It’s tailored arena metal, and no matter how desperate you are to pick it apart and be an elitist about it – you simply can’t. Sabaton are far too fun for that sort of critique.
You could say that ‘The Last Stand‘ actually has a bit of it’s experimental musical merits in tracks like ‘Blood of Bannockburn‘ that reiterates it’s Scottish themes by using bagpipes as the lead hooks of the music. In general though the music is very Sabaton – crushing metal riffing backed with Europe-style synths, all fine-finished with commanding vocals. Musically every track is as catchy as the next.
In terms of lyrical content it’s Sabaton’s most diverse effort yet, spanning over 2’500 years of history and dictating the manifestos of history’s most famous ‘last stands’ in each track. Typically associated with more modern European history, the band dive into uncharted waters with the Japanese-themed ‘Shiroyama‘. That is probably as experimental as Sabaton get this time around though.
It might be a bit easy for a metal fan to file complaints that Sabaton are doing nothing revolutionary with their music any more. Believe me, when some tracks such as ‘Winged Hussars‘ sound suspiciously similar to that of ‘The Art of War‘, you want to start firing the critique. The fact of the matter is I can’t very well criticize an album that has me walking down the road and screaming ‘When the Winged Hussars arrive!!‘ in strangers faces.
‘The Last Stand‘ is nothing sublime, but it’s great heavy metal, and worth every penny for that reason. At very least, it’s a great tool to help you study for your next history exam, as every Sabaton album has been.
[verdict]Yes[/verdict]
[why]In reality ‘The Last Stand’ is just another Sabaton album, but it’s hard to criticize something that has been done well. The album plays the bands strengths to the fullest extent and keeps the music very enjoyable. [/why]
