"Coat Of Arms" CD by Sabaton

by Jürgen Tschamler (29.03.2010) "The art of war" was one of the über-albums of the year 2008 - with it, Sabaton became one of the pillars in their scene. Many people consider the Swedes to be "the next big thing". On the other hand, Sabaton do polarise: some say, their sound was bloated, their lyrics too war-possessed, their manner too materialistic. That may be true, but you can't accuse the Scandinavians of being simple-minded. They just do their thing, and they do it very convincing. "Coat of arms" follows the path chosen on the last album, and the band does everything to stay on that stylistic track. The flashy keyboard parts rule, the mighty melodies and choruses leave their marks on the ten songs. The guitars are cranked up a bit more, that becomes noticeable (and positively so) on faster anthems like "Screaming eagles" or "White death". "Saboteurs" is also pretty speedy, and compositions such as "Midway" or the title track are full-fledged anthems. Musically, "Wehrmacht" is also an epitome of a Sabaton anthem, but moralisers will have a field day with that one, I bet...