Metal Storm logo
Sabaton - The Last Stand review




Bandcamp music player
Reviewer:
9.3

290 users:
7.53
Band: Sabaton
Album: The Last Stand
Style: Power metal
Release date: August 2016


01. Sparta
02. Last Dying Breath
03. Blood Of Bannockburn
04. Diary Of An Unknown Soldier
05. The Lost Battalion
06. Rorke's Drift
07. The Last Stand
08. Hill 3234
09. Shiroyama
10. Winged Hussars
11. The Last Battle
12. Camouflage [Stan Ridgway cover][bonus]
13. All Guns Blazing [Judas Priest cover][bonus]

The hype train for The Last Stand was as swift, powerful, and unstoppable as Jan III Sobieski at the Battle of Vienna. Sabaton and Nuclear Blast ardently touted this album as a new chapter in the band's sonic evolution, a new incarnation of our Swedish pals featuring more experimentation and variation than ever. It's clear that they wanted us to recognize something greater in The Last Stand. But what is it that sets The Last Stand apart?

While Heroes found Sabaton digging deeper, darker, and grittier trenches, The Last Stand embarks on a journey in the opposite direction, brimming with lighter, catchier, and more uplifting melodies than ever. Sabaton has reinvented itself as an even brighter, more melodic, and more epic-sounding force, news which is undoubtedly loathsome to those who already found the band's trademark bombast saccharine and cloying - but to those fans who appreciate the uncomplicated magniloquence that Sabaton exemplifies, or to those who found the last few albums monotonous and shallow, The Last Stand represents revitalization and new possibilities. With a mere key change, "The Lost Battalion" transforms from a dramatic re-write of "Hearts Of Iron" into a triumphant, upbeat hymn that breaks new ground for the first time in ages, and for that reason, I believe that "The Lost Battalion" was the most appropriate choice for the first single. In that song, we can pinpoint the exact moment of transition from old Sabaton into new.

This Sabaton sounds more honest and inspired than Heroes, or even several older albums. Taking as much influence from the Europop of the members' youth as from the standard gamut of metal forefathers, The Last Stand sounds like the album S-ᗅᗺᗷᗅ-ton always wanted to make, but avoided for fear of disconcerting fans; the energy and passion pour through in volumes never before heard on a Sabaton record. Joakim's voice soars higher and more confidently than ever, continuing his steady improvement from album to album (one of my personal favorite aspects of this band), and the cheesiest keyboards to date, much more present than on Heroes, embellish these Brobdingnagian anthems with enough pomp to drown Louis XIV. The album's highly apposite thematic preoccupation, indicated by the title, strengthens the dramatic impact of the musical approach and is likely responsible for some of The Last Stand's resounding success.

It's clear that "Last Dying Breath," "Rorke's Drift," and "Hill 3234" took the brunt of the recycling; any Sabaton fan worth their salt could rattle off the older tracks reimagined in those three. It was inevitable that we wouldn't get a whole Sabaton album without some reincarnations; after all, The Last Stand is a fulfillment of the Sabaton promise, not a repudiation of the band's trademarks. I'm not bothered by filler, especially filler that trumps the Heroes- and Carolus Rex-brand filler. With only "The Last Battle" making reference to World War II (a record low for Sabaton, not counting Metalizer), The Last Stand explores new thematic realms to make up for some of those stale-ish riffs.

Casual listeners may well dismiss this entire album as another in a long, cannibalistic line, but fox-eared fans will detect the many differences, sometimes subtle, that prove that Sabaton worked up a sweat to make The Last Stand shine. Floor Jansen needs to guest on every Sabaton album, because her voice could very well be the whistling of the Winged Hussars themselves. The riffs in "Last Dying Breath" march and batter like Rammstein, but they twang like Mötley Crüe; the drum kit used on "The Lost Battalion," a construction sampling gunfire, grenade explosions, and bayonets ripping flesh for percussive effect, draws the listener deep into the Argonne with one of the most warlike atmospheres Sabaton has yet achieved. "Sparta" is a volcanic song destined to be entrance music for the world's greatest professional wrestler/tank commander/head-of-state, "The Last Battle" amusingly recounts the strangest tale of WWII over a driving dance beat, and the title track has just claimed the position of my favorite Sabaton song with its unflaggingly triumphant lead-in to the final chorus. "Winged Hussars" has Winged Hussars, and I've got nothing else to say about that.

This is power metal for the fan who loves to sing along, but doesn't want to remember too many words. This is music for the fan who likes ideas expressed in big choruses, big chords, and big words, for whom history is an open and endless book with a bitchin' guitar solo wedged in between every few pages. For some, Sabaton's grandstanding is crass, cringe-worthy, or even offensive. For me, Sabaton is triumph, a fathomless wellspring of spirit that replenishes the exsanguinated corpses of textbooks and makes everything I've ever loved about history come alive. Honestly, I can't imagine looking at Sabaton without the lens of historical devotion, so it's fully understandable for somebody disinterested in military exploits to pass up Sabaton. But ask yourself: if a handsomely-mustachioed Swede in reflective aviators and body armor shouting about 189 Swiss Guards, 500 samurai, and 3,000 Winged Hussars doesn't make you want to jump up and down like an idiot and scream about tanks, then what the hell are you living for?

All in all, 1683/1791, would ask to join the Holy League.


Rating breakdown
Performance: 10
Songwriting: 9
Originality: 8
Production: 8





Written on 20.08.2016 by I'm the reviewer, and that means my opinion is correct.

Guest review by
tominator
Rating:
7.4
Sabaton. Yeah, that name has become really well-known in the world of power metal. With albums like The Art Of War and Carolus Rex, it's not hard to understand why.

But what about the latest album? Is The Last Stand really a masterpiece like the official lyric videos tell us?

No, I wouldn't say so personally. This is Sabaton as you already know them. I don't find anything really innovative on this album. Is it bad? No, it's just that I expected more from the album (especially when they are claiming it would be a masterpiece). To me it feels a bit generic.

Read more ››
published 05.03.2017 | Comments (3)


Comments

Comments: 75   Visited by: 521 users
20.08.2016 - 22:07
LuciferOfGayness
Account deleted
Is there any way I can make this review invisible for me on metal storm?
Loading...
20.08.2016 - 22:43
Cynic Metalhead
Paisa Vich Nasha
Written by Guest on 20.08.2016 at 22:07

Is there any way I can make this review invisible for me on metal storm?


Dear Sir,

What made you to say that?
Loading...
20.08.2016 - 23:04
EthicaOdini85
Written by Guest on 20.08.2016 at 22:07

Is there any way I can make this review invisible for me on metal storm?

don't mind him; he is a total naab ... 9.3 ) no band deserves such a grade and especially this catchy album
Loading...
20.08.2016 - 23:17
Rating: 10
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
admin
Written by EthicaOdini85 on 20.08.2016 at 23:04

Written by Guest on 20.08.2016 at 22:07

Is there any way I can make this review invisible for me on metal storm?

don't mind him; he is a total naab ... 9.3 ) no band deserves such a grade and especially this catchy album

No band in the whole world deserves a 9.3? That's a pretty bold statement.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
20.08.2016 - 23:25
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
Well nice review, I think we can give it as B day present to one of our fellow metalstormers as MH
----
I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens.

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
Loading...
20.08.2016 - 23:27
Jamuflaknu
I believe that 9.3 is a very generous score since there are some mediocre and even generic songs, but on the other hand there are still some absolute gems like the Winged Hussars and The Last Stand that easily make up for the not so good stuff. I mean it's not a bad album, but some of the songs feel like Sabaton was not even trying which really sucks since they can really kick ass if they want.
Loading...
20.08.2016 - 23:59
Rating: 1
Ellinor
Yet another generic album by Sabaton. If you heard one song by them, you heard them all. Sames goes for albums.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 00:56
Rating: 10
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
admin
Written by Ellinor on 20.08.2016 at 23:59

Yet another generic album by Sabaton. If you heard one song by them, you heard them all. Sames goes for albums.

I disagree. I have to concede that they have a handful of song structures they reuse frequently and their lyrics all generally follow the same pattern, on top of which any album from the second half of The Art Of War through this one has roughly the same production and overall sound. Even so, if you really think that they never change things up or develop new ideas or have anything that stands out, independent of your assessment of the quality, I have to think that you aren't paying close enough attention. You may not want to bother, which is fair, but the thrust of my review was that Sabaton is trying out some new ideas on The Last Stand to avoid just such a spurious assessment, and I'm not sure how much difference you can detect with only a Cook's tour of each album.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 01:33
Fallen Ghost
Craft Beer Geek
I'm pretty tired of these guys after they kinda reproduced the same songs and structures each release (I was a great fan of them before hence I got a lot of them in my collection) and had no intention to listen to this.. But after such a high score, I might give it a chance and see if they actually did something a little different!
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 01:53
LuciferOfGayness
Account deleted
Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 21.08.2016 at 00:56

Written by Ellinor on 20.08.2016 at 23:59

Yet another generic album by Sabaton. If you heard one song by them, you heard them all. Sames goes for albums.

I disagree. I have to concede that they have a handful of song structures they reuse frequently and their lyrics all generally follow the same pattern, on top of which any album from the second half of The Art Of War through this one has roughly the same production and overall sound. Even so, if you really think that they never change things up or develop new ideas or have anything that stands out, independent of your assessment of the quality, I have to think that you aren't paying close enough attention. You may not want to bother, which is fair, but the thrust of my review was that Sabaton is trying out some new ideas on The Last Stand to avoid just such a spurious assessment, and I'm not sure how much difference you can detect with only a Cook's tour of each album.

Its quite painful to see such a talented writer have such a horrible taste in music. But its even more painful to watch you argue that this isnt generic. Most people who listens and craves this kind of music would never argue that it isnt generic. Most of them admit that they got a horrible taste in music, but they cant do anything to change their desires

Here it is btw.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 02:46
Ace Frawley
The Spaceman
A rating of 9.3 would make it the number 1 album of all time if you compared it to the overall ratings on MS. Currently the highest rating is 9.2.
----
The sun shines over The Fool...
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 03:03
LuciferOfGayness
Account deleted
Written by Ace Frawley on 21.08.2016 at 02:46

A rating of 9.3 would make it the number 1 album of all time if you compared it to the overall ratings on MS. Currently the highest rating is 9.2.

The rule of the staff reviews is to give a rating that doesnt consider any of metals history. Each album is seen as the first metal album ever
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 03:34
Rating: 10
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
admin
Written by Guest on 21.08.2016 at 01:53

Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 21.08.2016 at 00:56

Written by Ellinor on 20.08.2016 at 23:59

Yet another generic album by Sabaton. If you heard one song by them, you heard them all. Sames goes for albums.

I disagree. I have to concede that they have a handful of song structures they reuse frequently and their lyrics all generally follow the same pattern, on top of which any album from the second half of The Art Of War through this one has roughly the same production and overall sound. Even so, if you really think that they never change things up or develop new ideas or have anything that stands out, independent of your assessment of the quality, I have to think that you aren't paying close enough attention. You may not want to bother, which is fair, but the thrust of my review was that Sabaton is trying out some new ideas on The Last Stand to avoid just such a spurious assessment, and I'm not sure how much difference you can detect with only a Cook's tour of each album.

Its quite painful to see such a talented writer have such a horrible taste in music. But its even more painful to watch you argue that this isnt generic. Most people who listens and craves this kind of music would never argue that it isnt generic. Most of them admit that they got a horrible taste in music, but they cant do anything to change their desires

I appreciate your compliment. I'm not arguing that Sabaton isn't at all generic, because they definitely have a lot of material that conforms to the same guidelines and reiterates the same melodies, and "The Lost Battalion," which sounds very much like "Hearts of Iron" with some "The Price of a Mile" thrown in for good measure, is one such example. I do love that song, but I know I'm not getting away with claiming that it doesn't sound a lot like previously-recorded material. I even mentioned in the review that there are several other songs on this album obviously drawing on older songs, and those guilty songs are my least favorite tracks, the ones that I think hold this album back. I understand perfectly why people accuse Sabaton of being generic.

What I'm trying to say is that Sabaton isn't entirely generic. It's an unfair dismissal to say that all of their material is on the same level and they have no variety whatsoever, because there are plenty of examples, including several on this album, of them trying out new approaches. I, for one, CAN tell the difference between certain albums and songs, which means that such a difference clearly exists on some level. Ellinor's comment states that there is no value in advancing beyond one song, because everything you might get out of Sabaton's discography you could get out of a single song, and I vehemently disagree with that.

Even as far as the bulk of their material goes, it's generic for Sabaton, but there aren't a ton of bands out there that sound like Sabaton. There are bands who have clearly influenced them, like Manowar, Avantasia, and Savatage, and there are bands that have clearly been influenced by them, like Powerwolf and Battle Beast, but Sabaton has very clearly created its own sound, the evolution of which you can track over the course of their discography. The band has some degree of creativity as evidenced by the fact that it has established its own distinct sound, even if they don't often stray far outside that sound. I also think that there's quite a gap between admitting that a band is exceedingly self-referential and "admitting" that it's terrible. I'll admit that Sabaton is cannibalistic, but you'll never hear me call them terrible.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 03:40
bddidier
Written by Guest on 21.08.2016 at 03:03

Written by Ace Frawley on 21.08.2016 at 02:46

A rating of 9.3 would make it the number 1 album of all time if you compared it to the overall ratings on MS. Currently the highest rating is 9.2.

The rule of the staff reviews is to give a rating that doesnt consider any of metals history. Each album is seen as the first metal album ever


Loading...
21.08.2016 - 03:56
Ace Frawley
The Spaceman
Written by Guest on 21.08.2016 at 03:03

Written by Ace Frawley on 21.08.2016 at 02:46

A rating of 9.3 would make it the number 1 album of all time if you compared it to the overall ratings on MS. Currently the highest rating is 9.2.

The rule of the staff reviews is to give a rating that doesnt consider any of metals history. Each album is seen as the first metal album ever


What does that mean? Most reviews I've read compare the album to previous works by an artist (if they have previous albums) and so to write a review that considers the albums place in history and then to assign a numeric rating that is supposed to ignore all history sounds pretty meaningless to me.
----
The sun shines over The Fool...
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 04:47
Rating: 9
nefredil
Because of some of you "loud" whiners, many tremendous bands, "died", like Sonata, Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Nightwish, and others like them, that were brilliant once... Because you are spoiled, and looking for "flaws" or "repetitions" from previous albums, comparing them to older albums, is what is going to destroy this band. The album is fantastic and it is completely in spirit of Sabaton, which we use to love and listen! If something is GOOD, DO NOT change it. DO NOT experiment, rather, KEEP doing what you have done till now!

I am sick of these nova days kids... Flaw-finders nit-picking, and etc...
----
First rule of making alliance with the Devil? Don't do it.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 05:38
Overrwatcher
Another 9+ rating, another continous stream of salt in the comments.

Also reminds me why I don't write my own reviews. Giving a good score to anything that isn't some avantgarde blackened drone doom or an already hyped to death album is just asking for the metal community to shit on you. If you really like an album that isn't "OBJECTIVELY GOOD!!!!!!!!!!" (a stupid concept in music) then how dare you don't 1 spam it like the rest of the masses.

I don't see what makes Sabaton special outside of making the same enjoyably loud and bombastic metal songs over and over again, but if SSUS loves them, power to him.
----
Overr's List Of Worthwhile Deathcore Albums

Written by Dr. Strawberry on 12.06.2016 at 19:43

Overwatcher, MS Xena, crumbled him in no time. MS needs you to kill the boredom in here.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 08:13
Rating: 10
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
admin
Written by nefredil on 21.08.2016 at 04:47

Because of some of you "loud" whiners, many tremendous bands, "died", like Sonata, Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Nightwish, and others like them, that were brilliant once... Because you are spoiled, and looking for "flaws" or "repetitions" from previous albums, comparing them to older albums, is what is going to destroy this band. The album is fantastic and it is completely in spirit of Sabaton, which we use to love and listen! If something is GOOD, DO NOT change it. DO NOT experiment, rather, KEEP doing what you have done till now!

I am sick of these nova days kids... Flaw-finders nit-picking, and etc...

I'm mildly confused by your wording, but I think I disagree. This album is definitely in the spirit of Sabaton, but it's only by pushing their boundaries and looking for new inspirations that Sabaton actually got this far. The Last Stand might still be too uneventful and stodgy for the average listener, but a fan like myself who has listened to every album countless times can appreciate how Sabaton has evolved. For some, the idea that this is Sabaton trying to be different is horrifying, and even I wouldn't want to hear eight albums of Sabaton NOT attempting to implement new ideas.

There are plenty of bands that started good, changed their sound, and got even better. Evolution is as important to many bands as it is irrelevant to others. Not all bands should follow the same career path. Some, perhaps, are best left doing the same album over and over again, but others need to expand and change. I don't think it's productive or beneficial to demand the same thing from a band on each album.

More importantly, art deserves criticism. I personally have very little criticism for Sabaton, since I love their music almost unconditionally and the problems that I do recognize don't impede my enjoyment much, but I welcome somebody else explaining their problems with the band. I'll disagree and offer my rebuttal, as you'll see above, but flaw-finding and nit-picking is a perfectly acceptable way to experience an album, even if it's not the way that I choose to experience this album. Looking for flaws doesn't create flaws. If you find flaws, the flaws were already there, so complaining about a band doesn't actually make the band worse.

Music is much more ephemeral than film or the visual arts, for example, so it's more difficult to provide meaningful criticism of music, but I want people to complain so I can think more critically about the music I listen to.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 08:37
Rating: 10
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
admin
Written by Overrwatcher on 21.08.2016 at 05:38

Another 9+ rating, another continous stream of salt in the comments.

Also reminds me why I don't write my own reviews. Giving a good score to anything that isn't some avantgarde blackened drone doom or an already hyped to death album is just asking for the metal community to shit on you. If you really like an album that isn't "OBJECTIVELY GOOD!!!!!!!!!!" (a stupid concept in music) then how dare you don't 1 spam it like the rest of the masses.

I don't see what makes Sabaton special outside of making the same enjoyably loud and bombastic metal songs over and over again, but if SSUS loves them, power to him.

I could bankroll my own private Roman legion with the salt flooding my reviews and still have enough left over to spread over Carthage. I know full well what I'm getting into when I review certain bands, and the criticism is not wholly unfounded. In the past I've published reviews that were inaccurate or misguided for one reason or another, including the last Sabaton review I did, which is where a lot of my "fan base" comes from. I've spent a lot of time thinking about my own writing over the years, though, and since the Heroes debacle I've gotten much better about accurately portraying my opinions. This is a rating that I can stand by proudly because it's my honest opinion.

I guess it's a combination of multiple things. First, I have partly done this to myself. I started reviewing six years ago and didn't have a good handle on the concept for most of that time, so a lot of the stuff I've published has been overblown and abusive to the numerical scale, and that'll haunt me for a while. Second, I love Sabaton to an apparently inordinate extent, which would work to my detriment even if this were the first review I'd ever published with a suspect score. Third, everybody loves to bitch and moan about albums rated past a certain point anyway. As you say, there's always somebody clamoring for an objective review, not realizing that such a thing doesn't exist.

But at the end of the day, the important thing is that I love this band, I've done my best to explain why, and everybody is free to agree or disagree with my rating. Give me all your power.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 08:39
Rating: 10
ScreamingSteelUS
Editor-in-Chief
admin
It may shock some readers, but I thought long and hard about what rating to give this album. I gave it a 9.3 because I love it that much, and I put effort into coming up with that rating. It wasn't a kneejerk reaction, it wasn't a prize blindly awarded to one of my favorite bands, it was a rating that I pondered and ultimately found appropriate to my reception of the work. The fact that it's so high can be attributed to the fact that I love Sabaton an awful lot, but that doesn't mean it's disingenuous or that I don't understand what that number means. It's not "wrong."

When I wrote my review of Heroes, I was suffering some delusions about the quality of the album. Looking closely at The Last Stand has forced me to revisit some of my old assessments, and I've dropped Heroes from a 10 as a result. I still rate it a 9, because I still love Sabaton and I still love all those songs, even the less transcendent ones, but that's not a 9.6 album. I think that The Last Stand is better than Heroes, despite the disparity in ratings. I didn't consciously inflate the score of Heroes; I merely convinced myself not to think about the album's flaws so I could perceive it as perfect. Nobody wants their favorite bands to release anything less than perfect, after all, and if they're within arm's reach, it's very easy to deceive yourself into cutting them some slack. I was a bit caught up in that new album smell.

If I had really believed that Heroes was a 9.6, that would have been fine. This is all ultimately my opinion and nothing more or less than that. The problem with that rating wasn't how high it was, but how much I really meant it. This 9.3 rating is something that I considered carefully and find fully defensible. I recognize this album's flaws and I have weighed them carefully against the strong points. The rating is still this high because I love Sabaton at its core, and the band's flaws, therefore, matter much less to me than to somebody who doesn't like the basic idea of Sabaton. I may also disagree about what aspects constitute flaws and how widespread they are.

My Heroes review was inaccurate because it reflected an inflated quality I had brashly assigned to the album. This review is accurate because it reflects my honest opinion of The Last Stand. I have made efforts to describe the content of the album and explain why I perceive the album in the way that I do, thereby fulfilling my obligations to the illusion of objective reviewing that people harp on about. You may disagree with my perception, but the fact that the review explains my real thoughts and not something I've concocted to achieve some goal or another means that the review is correct. Your own assessment is also correct because it is your own assessment, and that's all that matters in music.
----
"Earth is small and I hate it" - Lum Invader

I'm the Agent of Steel.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 11:15
LuciferOfGayness
Account deleted
Written by Overrwatcher on 21.08.2016 at 05:38

Giving a good score to anything that isn't some avantgarde blackened drone doom or an already hyped to death album is just asking for the metal community to shit on you.

What are you on? Link me to a drone album thats been reviewed with a 9.3. Drone is actually the genre that probably has the lowest scores here. People cant really understand it as most metallers (including me) started with Metallica or something else thats quite far off. Drone isnt anyway near 9.3 so link me to a drone album thats got over 8.6 in a review or has votes thats over 8.6? You cant find 10 drone albums here thats rated over 8. My guess is that will take another 20 years for reality to catch up on your slurs.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 11:21
qlacs
"The Quaker"
Written by nefredil on 21.08.2016 at 04:47

Because of some of you "loud" whiners, many tremendous bands, "died", like Sonata, Hammerfall, Stratovarius, Nightwish, and others like them, that were brilliant once... Because you are spoiled, and looking for "flaws" or "repetitions" from previous albums, comparing them to older albums, is what is going to destroy this band. The album is fantastic and it is completely in spirit of Sabaton, which we use to love and listen! If something is GOOD, DO NOT change it. DO NOT experiment, rather, KEEP doing what you have done till now!

I am sick of these nova days kids... Flaw-finders nit-picking, and etc...

Really? How about they "experiment" with proper songwriting? Ah wait, that's harder to do... yeeeeeeeeeah
----
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 14:23
Rating: 1
Ellinor
Written by ScreamingSteelUS on 21.08.2016 at 00:56

Written by Ellinor on 20.08.2016 at 23:59

Yet another generic album by Sabaton. If you heard one song by them, you heard them all. Sames goes for albums.

I disagree. I have to concede that they have a handful of song structures they reuse frequently and their lyrics all generally follow the same pattern, on top of which any album from the second half of The Art Of War through this one has roughly the same production and overall sound. Even so, if you really think that they never change things up or develop new ideas or have anything that stands out, independent of your assessment of the quality, I have to think that you aren't paying close enough attention. You may not want to bother, which is fair, but the thrust of my review was that Sabaton is trying out some new ideas on The Last Stand to avoid just such a spurious assessment, and I'm not sure how much difference you can detect with only a Cook's tour of each album.


Anyone who gives this album 9.3 should be prohibited from posting reviews here ever again. With all due respect, that fact alone disqualifies your opinion on music as relevant and proves this review is not an objective assessment of Sabaton's new release but rather fanboy apologetics.

I admit, back in the early days Sabaton had something to offer here and there (e.g. "Shadows" from Metalizer was one of the best songs ever written based on Tolkien's Legendarium.). However, there is no doubt that they've become one of the most generic metal bands. New disc changes nothing in that respect. Therefore, my previous statement about all songs being the same may not be technically correct but it's still a very good approximation of their sound. Having 3-4 songs worth mentioning (in whole discography) is not enough to challenge that assumption. It's actually supporting it.

These types of bands have become cancer of metal music and fanboy reviews are not helpful at all. No innovation, no depth, overly simplistic, lyrically atrocious. I guess it's easier to record variations of the same song than experiment in new directions and develop your sound.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 14:31
Auntie Sahar
Drone Empress
elite
Written by Overrwatcher on 21.08.2016 at 05:38

Giving a good score to anything that isn't some avantgarde blackened drone doom or an already hyped to death album is just asking for the metal community to shit on you

Greatly exaggerating the extent to which the average metalhead is a fan of experimentalism in their music. This is part of why I'm actually surprised this review is getting such a backlash because really, the average user's tastes on here are pretty generic, actually. I mean just look at our top 20 albums on here, it's not like it's chock full of Sunn O))), Gnaw Their Tongues, and Botanist albums
----
I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go.

~ II. VII
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 14:34
Overrwatcher
Written by Guest on 21.08.2016 at 11:15

Written by Overrwatcher on 21.08.2016 at 05:38

Giving a good score to anything that isn't some avantgarde blackened drone doom or an already hyped to death album is just asking for the metal community to shit on you.

What are you on? Link me to a drone album thats been reviewed with a 9.3. Drone is actually the genre that probably has the lowest scores here. People cant really understand it as most metallers (including me) started with Metallica or something else thats quite far off. Drone isnt anyway near 9.3 so link me to a drone album thats got over 8.6 in a review or has votes thats over 8.6? You cant find 10 drone albums here thats rated over 8. My guess is that will take another 20 years for reality to catch uo on your slurs.


It's something called a joke.

Because you didn't get my joke, I have to kill it by explaining it. I'm saying that in order to be highly rated, the album has to be this super inaccessible music reserved only for the "elite". Otherwise it's "meh 5/10 not 'objectively good'." I'm not shitting on said "elite music", I just generally find the fanbase for it insufferably pretentious when they talk about more mainstream albums.

And I keep bringing up 'objectively good' because people seem to forget that music is extremely subjective compared to other forms of media. What may be a 10/10 for one guy may be a 1/10 for another, or a 7.5/10 for a third guy. Are any of the three wrong? Provided there's no vote manipulation, then no. The closest you can get to being objective can do with timing, production, and cohesiveness, but even that stuff is very debateable. Raw black metal isn't objectively bad just because the production sounds like it was done by a 3 year old. It adds to the sound. And mistimed/messy songs have their own chaotic appeal to them as well. Who is to say that SSUS can not give Sabaton a 9.3/10? He's not wrong. You're not wrong if you give Sabaton a 3/10. Opinions are opinions, and reviews can be good even if you disagree with the score. Behemoth's The Satanist is one of my favorite albums of all time, and I disagree with the 6/10 staff review score, but the content in the review is extremely accurate and I agree with it.

I'll use this reply to continue on my scoring rant. Someone is going to bring up "but averages..." They're AVERAGES. Having a high average just means that people on AVERAGE enjoy the album more. If two separate people rate an album 6/10 and 9/10, it will end up at 7.5/10. Both have different opinions, and the average is just a way of summing it up in one number. Let's take Rust In Peace for an example, the highest rated album on this site. To be above a 9/10 average, it had to have 10/10 ratings, and lots of them to counteract the 7-8/10s. Or your average album needs high ratings to counteract low ratings. None of those 10/10s are wrong. Why would a 9.3/10, if anything, be wrong? SSUS is one of the only staff reviewers with the balls to not squish a score up or down just to avoid hate. I sure as hell don't have that, which is why I avoid reviewing.

Bring Me The Horizon's There Is A Hell is one of my absolute favorite albums of all time. I've listened to it, front to back, to the point where I can play the entire album in my head, complete with lyrics. It's a heavenly, heart-wrenching, amazingly produced album dripping with sheer anguish. I gave it a 10/10 because of that, despite the album being one of the lowest rated on MS. That's even steeper of a divide than SSUS's score. And fuck no I'm not wrong. I just have an opinion on the form of media that is most dependent on opinions.

So on other words, fuck everyone's averages. Dare to give out a score as bold as NINE POINT THREE OUT OF TEN if you feel it's worth it. SSUS felt like it was worth it, and so he gave it that number.
----
Overr's List Of Worthwhile Deathcore Albums

Written by Dr. Strawberry on 12.06.2016 at 19:43

Overwatcher, MS Xena, crumbled him in no time. MS needs you to kill the boredom in here.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 14:45
Overrwatcher
Written by Auntie Sahar on 21.08.2016 at 14:31

Written by Overrwatcher on 21.08.2016 at 05:38

Giving a good score to anything that isn't some avantgarde blackened drone doom or an already hyped to death album is just asking for the metal community to shit on you

Greatly exaggerating the extent to which the average metalhead is a fan of experimentalism in their music. This is part of why I'm actually surprised this review is getting such a backlash because really, the average user's tastes on here are pretty generic, actually. I mean just look at our top 20 albums on here, it's not like it's chock full of Sunn O))), Gnaw Their Tongues, and Botanist albums


Yeah, it was quite a bit of an over-exaggeration lol. What ends up happening a lot is that the silent majority has generic tastes while the more dedicated commenters experiment a bit more. That's why MS has more generic scores than a site like the Metal Archives, which requires a full review to be accepted with the score. Someone spending time discussing metal will inherently be deeper into the genre than someone who just throws out scores and lurks for news and the newest high rated album, which is why it doesn't surprise me that this review is getting such backlash. The average person is probably thinking "oh cool, the new Sabaton album is great!" instead of writing angry hatemail to poor SSUS. You know, I can't even say poor SSUS, he knew what he was getting himself into, and at this point he's used to it.
----
Overr's List Of Worthwhile Deathcore Albums

Written by Dr. Strawberry on 12.06.2016 at 19:43

Overwatcher, MS Xena, crumbled him in no time. MS needs you to kill the boredom in here.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 15:48
LuciferOfGayness
Account deleted
Written by Overrwatcher on 21.08.2016 at 14:34

Written by Guest on 21.08.2016 at 11:15

Written by Overrwatcher on 21.08.2016 at 05:38

Giving a good score to anything that isn't some avantgarde blackened drone doom or an already hyped to death album is just asking for the metal community to shit on you.

What are you on? Link me to a drone album thats been reviewed with a 9.3. Drone is actually the genre that probably has the lowest scores here. People cant really understand it as most metallers (including me) started with Metallica or something else thats quite far off. Drone isnt anyway near 9.3 so link me to a drone album thats got over 8.6 in a review or has votes thats over 8.6? You cant find 10 drone albums here thats rated over 8. My guess is that will take another 20 years for reality to catch uo on your slurs.


It's something called a joke.

Because you didn't get my joke, I have to kill it by explaining it.

Im old, please use smileys
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 15:57
Malignar
I almost feel like the reviewer is trolling us with his taste in music. Having a nice laugh behind the scenes.
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 16:06
Karlabos
Meat and Potatos
----
"Aah! The cat turned into a cat!"
- Reimu Hakurei
Loading...
21.08.2016 - 16:33
Rating: 7
The amount of salt in this comment section is quite something.
Loading...

Hits total: 18243 | This month: 20