DippoMagoo
One rule I find that applies to music is that the first album I hear by a band, no matter how its quality stacks up when compared against the rest of their discography, always ends up having a special place in my heart, if only because of the fact that it was my gateway for getting into the band. Sometimes, this can happen even with a fairly lackluster album, but thankfully in the case of Sabaton, the band has absolutely no weak albums (except arguably The Last Stand, though even that's very good when judged on its own merits,) so no matter what album I had started with, I definitely would have been impressed. So it Is with Coat of Arms, their fourth full length album, and one that can easily be overlooked by some, due to the fact that it comes in between their two most ambitious albums to date. I was of course greatly impressed the first time I heard it, and it immediately made me fell in love with the band, from the epic keys, to the speedy guitar driven power metal, to the epic choruses, war themed anthems and of course Joakim Brodén unique and awesome vocals. Over time, while other albums like The Art of War, Attero Dominatus and Heroes have overtaken it, I still consider it to be an excellent album, which I'd place roughly within the middle of the band's discography, and of course a middling album for Sabaton is an incredible album for basically any other band.
While Coat of Arms is far less ambitious and immediately surprising when compared against The Art of War and Carolus Rex, it still has its own feel to it at times, being the first time the keyboards started to give the music more of a symphonic feel, with the title track in particular being a perfect example of this. This album was around when the band's music started to get a bit softer, more melodic and more epic than ever before, though it still packed a serious punch at times, especially with tracks like “Midway” and “Screaming Eagles”, which hit as hard as ever. In some ways, this album feels like a bit of a precursor to the more simplified sound the band took with Heroes and The Last Stand. Obviously, their music has always been very catchy and vocal driven, but this album was their shortest at the time of its release, due to each track having a fairly short running time, and this leads to the album having an absolutely perfect flow, moving from one highlight to another, with only one track overstaying its welcome, and that's more because it's a slightly lackluster track compared to the rest, than it actually being overlong. Still, in comparison to many of the band's other albums, there aren't any obvious threads connecting the tracks, and instead it's simply a collection of fun, epic war themed power metal songs, with nine of the ten tracks being pretty much perfect, and so it's an album that breezes by quickly and is very easy to listen to over and over again.
I really can't say much else about Joakim Brodén that I haven't said already, but I was especially impressed by him on this album, due to the fact that it was my first time ever hearing him, and his deep, powerful yet melodic vocals instantly blew me away. Over time he has become one of my absolute favorite metal vocalists, and this album was the start of that. As always, he's in very fine form here, with some of the track really bringing out his accent and making perfect use of his super deep, yet smooth voice. It could be just because it was the first Sabaton album I heard, but I'd definitely consider this album to be one of his absolute best performances.
At this point, Sabaton was already on quite the hot streak, coming off of two consecutive masterpieces, with The Art of War in particular being one of my all time favorite power metal albums, so it wouldn't have been too surprising if this album had seen a drop off in the songwriting. Thankfully, though, that isn't really the case, as once again the majority of the tracks here are absolutely fantastic, with a few of them even ranking among my favorites by the band. First up is the title track, which begins with some super epic keyboards, that immediately give the music a slight symphonic feel, before the track picks up the pace and Joakim shows up to steal the show, as always. The verses are fast, driving and help get you ready for a big chorus, which the band is always happy to supply, and overall it's fast, fun and addictive track that gets the album off to a flying start. After that is the short, but very sweet “Midway”, the hardest hitting track on the album, which charges out of the gates with some pulverizing riffs, and instantly bulldozes its way into the listener's head with a brief tease at the chorus, before dialing up the epic factor to an eleven later, when the full version finally arrives. It's over too quickly, but aside from it's an incredible track, for sure.
Next is one of my personal favorites in “Uprising”, the first slower track on the album, but it's certainly a memorable one. It opens up with some nice keyboards before settling into a similar rhythm as tracks like “Wolfpack” and “The Art of War”, but I find the vocal melodies here to be some of the band's absolute most inspired and they really do an amazing job in taking advantage of Joakim's voice, with even the verses being incredible, while the chorus is one of the band's absolute best ever, and even a vocal section that shows up near the end, where choir vocals are added, is absolutely incredible. The pace picks up again for “Screaming Eagles”, one of the more traditional power metal tracks on the album, which charges away at a blazing fast pace, and has some energetic drums and riffs, being another one of the heavier tracks on the album. It has an amazing chorus, as always, and is a super addictive track. Speaking of tracks with super addictive choruses, next is “The Final Solution”, another slower, more keyboard driven track, with a nice rhythm to it, though it's the vocals and epic keys that drive the track throughout, giving way to yet another ridiculously catchy chorus, with some pretty epic lyrics. Towards the end all music fades away except drums, giving way to Joakim and some epic choir vocals, and the result is absolutely stunning, helping to make it another one of my personal favorites.
Things don't exactly go downhill from there, either, with the next track “Aces in Exile” being another hard hitter, being a bit slower than tracks like “Midway” and “Screaming Eagles”, though it still moves at a nice pace and has some great rhythm guitars, while the chorus is super addictive, as usual. It gets extra points for mentioning Canada towards the end, and lyrically it's a pretty great track. Next is “Saboteurs”, a speedy track with some nice melodic guitar work, and it's definitely another one of the more straight-forward power metal tracks on the album, with a speedy, super catchy chorus, fun verses and a nice solo section. The one weaker track is next, that being “Wehrmacht”, a darker, slower paced track with some nice keys, though I find the guitar sound to be a little too thick and off putting compared to most Sabaton tracks, and the song simply lacks the kind of melody and hooks I've come to expect from the band. It's actually a solid track musically, but vocally it lacks the spark all other tracks on the album have. Thankfully, though, that track is the one exception here, as “White Death” quickly gets things back on track, moving at a nice pace and having more driving guitar riffs, nice rhythms and an epic chorus where Joakim really shines. Lastly, we have “Metal Ripper”, the final part of the metal trilogy. This one seems to take random quotes from different songs, and I find I don't get most of the references here, unlike with the other two tracks in the trilogy, though there are references to tracks like “Highway to Hell” and “Mr. Crowley”, as well as an obvious nod to “Crazy Train” during the instrumental section. Musically, it's the slowest in the trilogy, though it still moves at a decent pace and has a nice mix of great riffs and keyboard melodies, as well as a super catchy and fun chorus, as always, with the last run through being especially awesome.
Overall, Coat of Arms in yet another amazing album from Sabaton, which kept the momentum going after arguably their best to date in The Art of War. While it doesn't quite reach the level of that album, and can easily be overshadowed due to coming in between two far more ambitious albums, it's still a must hear for fans of the band, offering up a ton of excellent war anthems, as always, and having a few of my personal favorites from the band. As my introduction to Sabaton, I definitely have a soft spot for it, though I do think I'd find it to be a very high quality release regardless of when I had heard it, as some of the songs are simply to amazing to not be impressed by.