Hehe. The n00b machine has regurgitated a new candidate. Yet another established band that somehow never appeared on this zine. Sabaton is its name, and war-like tall tales are its game. They’ve been around for a long while and have been active at the outer fringes of the RMR aural perception. Same as their Viking brethren of Amon Amarth, these guys till the blood-soaked fields of conflict and merciless conquest. Only that Sabaton here are navigating modern waters more often than not. Whereas the latter praise the ferocious forces of the Norse. Y’know, the ones that endlessly ravaged Mercia and Wessex.
Legends, Sabaton called their newest piece. And as it is customary over here, the RMR crew will just look at the present piece without taking heed of their illustrious career in metal. Load yer guns and don yer hardhats! Or grab yer bow and mount yer elephants? We’re a tad confused. But whatever this may be, the enemy ain’t never far away.
One thing is clear right from the beginning. This is a well-oiled machine at work here. Whenever Legends gets off the ground, the piece exudes professionalism with a capital P. A well-chiseled production greets you straight away, no strand of hair visible from under their helmets, weapons gleaming with oil and polish. Sounds of Power Metal that often veer in the direction of ground that folks like Amaranthe already took. But more to that later.
The record is full of soaring and exuberant soundscapes happily touting rowdy subjugation and rich spoils of war. Legends boasts a glitzy Power Metal version of the Lore of War after all. A full-throated series of odes that often sound like the demented and idealized rants of a dictator on too much Pervitin1. Thus, you won’t find no meatgrinder on this here disk. If this is your fancy, you may want to visit Kanonenfieber‘s latest piece.
Legends sails safely down the middle of this vast stream of offerings that Power Metal has become. The repetition bug is never far away, though. And it indeed shows its ugly mug more often than the geezers over at the Review Desk really liked. In a way, the tracks seem to be cut from similar cloth, churned out by a well-honed songwriting automaton. But it is also the aforementioned pristine production that kind of gets in the way. One that won’t lose any element in the fray and is – perversely – almost too well constructed. The RMR crew couldn’t shake that vision of gleaming warriors going full bore at the enemy, yet their gear – strangely – showed no traces of the rigors of war.
Now, all of the above could sound like a bad omen. But, strangely enough, no such thing is true. Sabaton ride their charge with irresistible gusto and an astutely refined quality. Soaring melodies, brutally stomping drum work embedded in well-paced soundscapes, and a ton of sing-along choruses to keep up the fun factor. That is what you get. Where other bands overdosed on too much cheese and sugar, Legends will shine in its bellicose and saber-jiggling ways. And it isn’t that the band did not try to break things up a bit. Crossing The Rubicon, for instance, weaves some Darkwave vibes into the Power Metal, and Joakim Brodén‘s expressive vox really performs well on this one. Yet, the band loses itself a tad too much in Pop Metal territory and navigates way too close to the sins Amaranthe already committed. Cringe factor included.
Ultimately, Legends did not rip this crew out of its comfy seats. But Sabaton‘s lusty tune surely led to a few sing-along fun moments, accompanied by a couple of cold beers. In the end, you won’t care if the songs are predictable, and that you may have heard some of that already somewhere. The tracks will pull you along, are fun to listen to, and are imbued with a load of muscle and outstanding musical prowess. Said differently, Sabaton rules in mysterious, manly ways. And even if the record may not make our top 10 list this time, it will surely land on our internal playlist and stay there (for a while).
And that is a compliment, folks.
Ed’s note: And, drumroll! Here’s to another outfit making it onto our 2025 lamestream n00b list. Congrats!
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Better Noise | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 17 October 2025
- An early form of crystal meth used during WWII to boost yer power. German soldiers used it to gain fighting power. You get the point. -Ed.-↩