Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Sadly, Europe and the wider community is once more under the kind of threat that makes the Godfather of British science Fiction H. G. Wells’ quote “War to end all wars”, seem ever more populist for its time, and despite the brilliance of the man, almost arguably arrogantly absurd to believe such an event was ever possible.
Whilst Wells coined the phrase, it was President Wilson who expanded upon it and made it popular, who people think of when they hear The War To End All Wars now, and how we all must wish that either man had been right, how it had been more than just a soundbite, more than a gut reaction to the onslaught, the witnessing of mechanised death on an industrial scale.
Such was the searing of the amount of pain and suffering, the capturing of the soul of humanity that the Great War has forever been engrained into our conscious, branded almost as a consequence of another generation’s folly of rule, that art has framed it as an almost renaissance moment in time, that an artist, a poet, a musician has not mastered the depth of emotion felt, has not learned to appreciate the story beyond the initial thought of trenches, of how war is always the big sell for those in charge.
Emotion and the understanding of the overall picture, the concept has never been an issue for Sweden’s master’s of metal, Sabaton, and in their latest creation, The War To End All Wars, Joakim Brodén, Pär Sundström, Chris Rörland, Tommy Johannson, and Hannes Van Dahl, go further than ever to observing history, and being true to the musical journalism of seeking, and portraying truth.
The tenth studio album by Sabaton is a thriller of an occasion, searing understanding of the period, the focusing on certainties such as the miracle of The Christmas Truce, the fierce dread that came with the Stormtroopers, and in one marvellous case underreported by school textbook and newspapers alike, the tale of female Serbian soldier Milunka Savić who replaced her brother at the front line and became one the war’s most decorated heroes.
Across tracks and interweaved historical narration such as Sarajevo, Dreadnought, The Unkillable Soldier, Race To The Sea, Lady Of The Dark, The Valley Of Death, and Christmas Truce, Sabaton reflect with dignity and class on a war that destroyed a generation, that was in the end just a by-product of a rich culture’s greed and ego, of imperialism fought in a way that keeps rearing its ugly head, and as current events unfold around the release of the album, one that will never seemingly end.
A terrific album, the continuation of Sabaton’s deep thinking philosophy when it comes to placing war in the realm of art; dynamic under the pressure of not romanticising the event, Sabaton frame the narrative with soul and consideration.
Sabaton’s The War To End All Wars is out now.
Ian D. Hall