Band:	Civil War
Album:	Gods And Generals
Style:	Heavy metal, Power metal
Release date:	May 08, 2015
A review by:	ScreamingSteelUS

01. War Of The World
02. Bay Of Pigs
03. Braveheart
04. The Mad Piper
05. USS Monitor
06. Tears From The North
07. Admiral Over The Oceans
08. Back To Iwo Jima
09. Schindler's Ark
10. Gods And Generals
11. Knights Of Dalecarlia
12. Colours On My Shield

Civil War is a history buff's dream. Finally, a metal anthem dedicated to Lord Nelson! Someone else in the world dug up the story of the USS Monitor! And who could not but respect the musical memorialization of Oskar Schindler? Sweden's second-favorite library-bound power metal venture never fails to impress - in terms of lyrical content, anyway. Unfortunately, as the saying goes... history repeats itself.

I was decidedly less than enthralled with The Killer Angels, despite my profound love for Sabaton and high expectations for this splinter project; I have found, however, that revisiting that album has given me some greater insight into the lukewarm and dissatisfying nature of Gods And Generals. The Killer Angels was a very hit-and-miss album, but at least it hit some of the time. Gods And Generals severely wants for some kind of a flagship song, or at least something that sounds like it took longer to write than to record. "Bay Of Pigs," easily the most generic and pedestrian song I've heard in ages, shattered all my hope upon its unveiling, and the rest of the album puts very little effort into undoing the ravaging effects of this single.

Upon its initial release, I hadn't pegged The Killer Angels for possessing that first-album fury, that lightning strike of vitality that enlivens many a band's juvenile days, but compared to the saturated lethargy of Gods And Generals, it's practically the bastard child of Killing Is My Business if Lemmy were a drug and it were on that drug. Perhaps it has something to do with whatever turmoil led to Stefan Eriksson's sudden departure, or the malaise that motivated Oskar Montelius to retire from music; perhaps they simply ran out of ideas. Whatever the cause, Gods And Generals lacks spirit; it is as inert and lifeless as the erstwhile heroes Nils Patrik Johansson sings about. Even the lyrics, which I've praised at least for their themes, seem cut-and-pasted from older material.

The more I listen to this album, the more I find myself starting to remember the songs, and I'm displeased with this development because I fear mistaking memorability for quality and I know that I will one day give this a higher rating than what I hereby slap upon it, even though it hardly deserves it. Familiarity does not change the fact that Gods And Generals is nothing more than a recycled version of a recycled version of Sabaton, which basically makes this the product of an unending circle of cannibalism (and not in a cool way, like the Terminator franchise or certain species of spider). It is quite flat and boring, and I don't like to say these things about a band made up of musicians whom I respect, but I simply cannot talk myself out of the disappointment.

The beautiful lead guitar work towards the end of "Back To Iwo Jima" reminds me of classic Sabaton, and I truly hope that whatever spark Civil War had has not departed for good with Oskar, but at the same time I think it is time to stop being optimistic about this band. In my review of their debut, I stated my hopes that Civil War would "[end] up taking its own direction and crafting a sound that is truly its own." The opposite happened, and it seems highly unlikely that we'll be able to expect anything different from them in the near future. I myself like a number of bands that many people find generic and uninspired, but this is too much even for me.