2019 studio album by Sabaton
The Great War
Released 19 July 2019 Recorded November 2018 - February 2019
Genre
Power metal
[1] Length 38 :27
Label
Nuclear Blast
Producer Sabaton
"Fields of Verdun" Released: 3 May 2019
"The Red Baron" Released: 13 June 2019
"Great War" Released: 27 June 2019
"82nd All the Way" Released: 20 July 2019
"The Attack of the Dead Men (feat. Radio Tapok)" Released: 10 May 2020
The Great War is the ninth studio album by Swedish
power metal band
Sabaton . It was released on 19 July 2019.
[2]
[3] It is the first studio album to feature guitarist
Tommy Johansson .
[4] Like many of Sabaton's albums, it is a
concept album , this time about
World War I , often known as the Great War. The songs cover multiple stories from the war, including those of
Manfred von Richthofen ,
T.E. Lawrence ,
Alvin York , the
Attack of the Dead Men , the
Battle of Verdun , and others.
The album's first single, "Fields of Verdun", was released on 3 May 2019.
[5] The album's next single, "The Red Baron" was released on 13 June.
[6] The title song, "Great War", was released as a single on 27 June.
[7] A music video for the track "82nd All the Way" was released on 20 July.
[8] A music video for "Seven Pillars of Wisdom", in which
Indy Neidell plays the role of
T. E. Lawrence , was filmed in the
Tunisian desert in early September,
[9] and was released on 21 December.
[10] A live video and single for "The Attack of the Dead Men", recorded during a 13 March 2020 performance in
Moscow that included Russian-language metal cover artist Radio Tapok singing the verses, were announced 8 May 2020 for a 10 July release.
[11]
The album was released in four separate editions: the standard release,
[12] a history edition with contextual narration preceding each track,
[13] a soundtrack edition featuring instrumental orchestral versions of the songs,
[14] and a Sabaton History
Patreon exclusive release containing narration by
Indy Neidell .
[15]
The recorded lyrics for "82nd All the Way" mistakenly attribute
Sergeant
Alvin York to the
338th Regiment rather than his actual assignment to the
328th Infantry Regiment .
[16] The band corrects the mistake during live performances of the song.
[17]
Reception
The Great War garnered mostly positive reviews.
Metal Hammer ' s Holly Wright gave it 4/5 stars, praising it as "a rip-roaring, riff-addled march towards victory, coaxing influences from folk and power metal that sounds remarkably upbeat for an account of bloodthirsty mass destruction."
[18]
The Guardian ' s Dave Simpson rated the album 3/5 stars and said he preferred the History version, which precedes the songs with voiceovers describing the events the songs are about.
[19]
Loudwire named it one of the 50 best metal albums of 2019.
[20]
Cover versions
On 1 May 2019,
Apocalyptica released their rendition of "Fields of Verdun".
[21]
On 18 July 2019,
YouTube -based cover artist Radio Tapok released a Russian-language cover of "The Attack of the Dead Men" with Sabaton's assistance.
[22] Radio Tapok joined Sabaton on stage in Moscow the following spring during their Russian tour (cut short due to the
COVID-19 pandemic shortly after). The performance was recorded and produced as a single for a 10 July 2020 release.
[11]
On 3 January 2020,
Amaranthe released their rendition of "82nd All the Way".
[23]
Track listing
Personnel
Band members
Guest musicians
Thobbe Englund – guitar solo on "Fields of Verdun"
[25]
Antti Martikainen – orchestral arrangements on "Fields of Verdun", orchestral arrangements for the Soundtrack Edition
[26]
Floor Jansen – additional vocals, vocals on Soundtrack Edition
Bethan Dixon Bate – narration on History Edition
Indy Neidell – narration on History Channel Edition
Production
Jonas Kjellgren – production, engineering, mixing
Maor Appelbaum – mastering engineer
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications
References
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
a
b
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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Richard Larsson
Oskar Montelius
Rikard Sundén
Daniel Mullback
Daniel Mÿhr
Robban Bäck
Tommy Johansson
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