Sabaton
Legends
Better Noise Music
While the human imagination can conjure wild and fantastical stories for music, there is something to be said about mining our species’ history for material. Sweden’s Sabaton are the masters of this, and their commitment to historical storytelling reaps dividends across eleventh album, ‘Legends’. Whether it is tales of Knights Templar on “Templars”, Julius Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon on “Crossing The Rubicon”, or Hannibal’s journey across the Alps to fight the Roman Republic on “Lightning At The Gates”, each has a stirring quality about it that is only enhanced by the music around it. Driving riffs and meticulously-crafted solos reign supreme, whilst the opulent orchestrations make for an enriching, enveloping experience. That being said, possibly the best example is in the Egyptian-influenced “The Cycle Of Songs” – the life of pharaoh Senusret III never sounded so rousing and mysterious. Twenty-six years into this game and suffice to say that Sabaton continues to deliver the goods with military-precision. You do not have to be a history-buff to enjoy their music, but the legendary figures featured across the album’s eleven tracks make for thrilling listening.
https://www.facebook.com/sabaton
Review by Lee Carter