SABATON — Attero Dominatus (review)

Album · 2006 · Power Metal

5/5 · 2018-03-31
DippoMagoo

Sometimes I'll find an album by a long time favorite band, where initially I was disappointed with it and considered it to be among their weakest releases, if not their absolute weakest, only for it to suddenly grow on me and become one of my favorites over time. Such is the case with Swedish power metal band Sabaton's second full length release, Attero Dominatus, which follows their excellent debut, Primo Victoria, though it takes things in a darker direction at times, presenting one of their most ambitious and experimental song to date, while of course also providing some fan favorites, as well as one absolutely lyrical masterpiece, which I'll examine near the end of the review. Suffice to say, the first couple times I heard the album there were some tracks that just didn't quite grab me the way Sabaton songs usually do, but after several more plays I suddenly found myself blown away by it, and I now think of it as a masterpiece that rivals some of the band's absolute best works.

Compared to other Sabaton albums, Attero Dominatus is definitely one of their heaviest, as well as being an album that deals with some pretty dark subject matter at times, with themes of religious terrorism and the rise of Nazi Germany popping up on different tracks. As a result, the music has a darker tone then normal on some tracks, and quite a few of the songs are on the slower side of the band's music, though there's still a few more fun and upbeat tracks, as always. I find even the speedy tracks on this album hit quite hard, though, with some very heavy riffs throughout, and this album has some of the most most complex and most interesting guitar work of any Sabaton album to date, with a couple tracks in particular coming as close to being progressive as the band is likely to ever come. Obviously, there's still some fun and catchy tracks, as well as plenty of super catchy choruses, but this is definitely the band's most challenging album to date, as well as one of their most rewarding.

After establishing himself as an excellent vocalist on Primo Victoria, Joakim Brodén really hit his stride on this album, sounding smoother than on the previous album, while still singing with a ton of power and intensity, as always. His signature super deep and powerful voice is again in full effect here, and he gets to shine during some huge choruses, while just generally being the best part of the music as usual, even on the more complex tracks.

Attero Dominatus is a strange album, in that initially I found it to be by far the band's least consistent release, with a couple huge standouts and then everything else let me down a bit, but over time it's grown on me to the point where I now actually think it's one of their most consistent releases to date, with no less than amazing tracks. It gets off to an excellent start with the title track, a rather upbeat track which feels similar to the title track of Primo Victoria, with keyboards being rather dominant, except it moves at a slightly faster pace and is a fair bit heavier and more intense. The verses are fun and move at a great pace, while the chorus is melodic, super catchy and incredibly epic, easily standing out as one of the band's better efforts. It must be noted, this track was always one of my absolute favorites, even when I was initially not too impressed by the album overall. Next is “Nuclear Assault”, a slightly speedier track, which again has some hard hitting riffs, and is a fairly traditional power metal track, by Sabaton standards. It has an excellent chorus, great riffs and an excellent guitar solo, and it was another one of my early favorites.

The first track I struggled with in the past was “Rise of Evil”, the band's longest and most ambitious track to date. In case anyone was wondering if it was possible for Sabaton to do anything even remotely progressive, they should give this song a listen and be surprised, as it's definitely more complex than anything else they've ever done. I initially found it to be a bit plodding, as it uses the same kind of sound they established on “Wolfpack” from the debut, except it goes on for a much longer time. However, over time I've come to love both the overall slightly heavier sound of the track, as well as some of the more experimental instrumental sections in the second half, where we get some very retro sounding keyboards at times, as well as some nice guitar solos. In fact, that entire instrumental section is much longer and more interesting than anything else Sabaton has ever done instrumentally, and it's quite surprising to hear it, when compared against the more catchy, often rushed feeling songd of their later albums. It has a dark feel to it, as it deals with the Nazis, and it's certainly not one of the bands catchier songs, but it's actually quite interesting and still very epic, as always.

Following that, the band returns to more standard fare with “In the Name of God”, a mid paced and quite heavy track, with some great melodies and an extremely epic, super catchy chorus that instantly steals the show and becomes one of the highlights of the album. After that is the brief but super speedy “We Burn”, which has an extended intro before quickly picking up the pace and becoming one of the band's fastest and heaviest songs to date, with super heavy and addictive verses, as well as a very catchy chorus. It's one of those brief but oh so awesome tracks the band specializes in. One other song I struggled with before is “Angels Calling”, which has a nice symphonic intro before the guitars kick in and it moves at a fairly slow pace, being another fairly dark and heavy track. It reminds me a bit of “Stalingrad” from their debut, with more complex rhythms and guitar work compared to normal, but here the band adds in some extra melody to make it work better with their overall sound, plus the instrumental section in the second half is incredible and helps bring the song up to their usual standards. It's another pretty complex track with some interesting instrumental work, and it definitely feels like the kind of thing they aren't likely to ever attempt again.

Moving towards the end, the pace picks up again with “Back in Control”, a speedy hard hitting classic power metal track, with very fun verses and yet another awesome, extremely catchy chorus where Joakim gets to steal the show. It's another one of those brief but super addictive tracks the band is so damn good at making. The pace slows down one last time with “Light in the Black”, which has a nice piano intro, before turning into one of the epic mid paced tracks the band has become famous for. It has some great guitar work throughout, and is slightly more intense compared to other similar tracks, while the chorus is of course absolutely brilliant as always, making it another easy highlight.

One track that really needs to be singled out is the absolute masterpiece “Metal Crüe”, another part of the metal trilogy, this time focusing on metal band names. Musically, it's the fastest song in the trilogy, with excellent rhythm guitars and it moves at an excellent pace and has a ton of energy to it, with excellent melodies throughout. That's all just icing though, as the real highlight of the track is the lyrics, with the band taking many different band names and trying their absolute best to from some kind of story out of them, resulting in something that can only be described as pure genius. Let's just look at the chorus, as an example: “When the priest killed a maiden in the metal church, armored saints and warlocks watched the slaughter. Rage of the slayer forced the pretty maids, to kiss the queen in crimson glory.” I mean, I really have nothing to add to those lyrics, except to say the song is an absolute masterpiece, and one of those timeless classics I could play a million times over and never get even remotely tired of it. The insanely epic final run through the chorus, where some crazy falsetto vocals are added in the background, just makes it even more awesome. Easily the best Sabaton song of all time, which is saying a lot.

Overall, Attero Dominatus is quite the grower, as at first I wasn't overly impressed with it, but over time it has become one of my absolute favorite Sabaton albums, thanks to its combination of instantly memorable fan favorite tracks, as well as some more complex and darker tracks that explore a side of the band that has largely gone unseen ever since. Plus, there's just no way any band could ever write better lyrics than “ Metal Crüe”. That one is just an untouchable masterpiece, any other band could only ever dream of writing.