Sabaton - Primo Victoria

*=Staff's pick	Primo Victoria* Reign Of Terror* Panzer Battalion* Wolfpack Counterstrike Stalingrad Into The Fire* Purple Heart Metal Machine*

Genre	Heavy Metal	Joakim Brodén	Vocals
Tracks	9	Oskar Montelius	Guitar
Runningtime	41 Min.	Rikard Sundén	Guitar
Label	Black Lodge	Pär Sundström	Bass
Release	28 Feb. 2005	Daniel Mullback	Drums
Country	Sweden	Joakim Brodén	Keyboards
Similar artists	Manowar, Hammerfall, Axenstar

I came across swedish band Sabaton for the first time a few years ago. They then played a bit unpolished, heavy metal with vocals touching the realms of death metal, or at least it was heavy growling. I liked it at the time, however, and I remember making a mental note to keep track of this band in the future, because I felt that they had the potential to become really good. After that I did not hear anything for several years, and now finally they have surfaced with a new fresh approach, and new vocals. The growing process has evidently done then good, because the result is impressive.

The music is straight, mostly uptempo heavy metal, driven by delicious harmony riffs in the veins of classic Running Wild, to give an example, but the lion share of the sound comes from classic NWOBHM, and Demon is a band that comes to mind more than once. Furthermore, a bit of heavier Black Sabbath moods and arrangements add variation to the sound landscape, spiced with some nice keyboards and majestic choirs. The vocals are also very powerful, and still darker then the average singer, but they suit the music perfectly now.

Standout tracks are basically all of them, especially Reign Of Terror, Panzer Battalion and Into The Fire, which are nothing less than killer metalsongs, and the speed ball Counterstrike, but excluding the slower Stalingrad which despite a melodic chorus never lifts. They all have their certain character, and are based on strong choruses and they are not afraid to incorporate elements of various speed and shape, even toward the realm of folk music.

In the song Metal Machine, the refrain breaks off from the otherwise geniously cliche-shaped song, and takes an almost radio friendly form, but it works damn well. If I should try to explain the general sound, it would be something like a mix of Grave Digger/Hammerfall riffs, Manowar epicness, a bit of Iced Earth and classic british metal, and all is served in an intense and uptempo form with the great vocals topping it all.

The production, courtesy of famous Abyss Studio, is very thick and heavy, and the guitars are exactly like I want them. This is an album you should check up as fast as you can if you are in for some well played and heavy metal with a personal touch, and that without being the slightest bit progressive. Just very metal.

Production	Vocals	Compositions
8	9	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Tommy