Album Review: Sabaton - Legends
Reviewed by Rich Oliver
It is pretty safe to say that Sabaton are the biggest power metal band in the world right now commanding huge arenas, having their own annual festival and preparing to go on one of their biggest tours playing alongside a symphony orchestra. Firstly though, they are unleashing their eleventh studio album “Legends” which marks the return of guitarist Thobbe Englund, their first on label Better Noise and also marks a change in the songwriting process with every band member coming to contribute to the writing. The premise of “Legends” is a mix of history and heavy metal goodness with the lyrical content looking further back in history than ever before and taking a look at history’s greatest, most formidable and enigmatic figures rather than the previous focus of historical battles and wartime heroes.
Whilst the lyrical content may be slightly different for “Legends” it is safe to say that the music remains unapologetically Sabaton. The band have rarely strayed from their tried and tested formula which has been in place since their debut album but Sabaton have consistency on their side and that is still very much the case with the songs which make up “Legends”.
It’s a definite case of if it isn’t broken then don’t fix it. “Legends” is made up of eleven heroic metal anthems such as the fist pumping ‘Hordes Of Khan’, the percussive ‘A Tiger Among Dragons’, the thunderous and speedy ‘Maid Of Steel’, the rousing ‘Lightning At The Gates’ and the thrilling power of ‘The Cycle Of Songs’. The album finishes with ‘Till Seger’ a song in the band’s native Swedish and their native tongue since the “Carolus Rex” album.
As you can imagine with a band of Sabaton’s stature, the album sounds immaculate with a massive production and mix which really captures the band’s power and might. Whilst this is still tried and trusted Sabaton, the band do sound particularly energised and animated on these recordings and the material itself is probably the strongest set of songs since “The Last Stand”. Sabaton have their detractors and “Legends” isn’t going to do anything to win those over but fans of the band will easily enjoy another consistent album from the band. These songs will also sound glorious on the upcoming tour especially with the power of an orchestra behind them.
