Sabaton "The Great War"

The Great War is the ninth studio album by Swedish power metal band Sabaton. It was released on 19 July 2019. It is the first studio album to feature guitarist Tommy Johansson. Like the last three Sabaton albums, it is a concept album, this time about World War I, often known as The Great War.

The album's first single, "Fields of Verdun", was released on 3 May 2019. The album's next single, "The Red Baron" was released on 13 June. The title song, "Great War", was released as a single on 27 June. A music video for the track "82nd All the Way" was released on 20 July. The album was released in four separate editions: the standard release, a history edition with contextual narration preceding each track, a soundtrack edition featuring instrumental versions of the songs, and a Sabaton History Patreon exclusive release containing narration by Indy Neidell.

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." 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.

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. The band corrected the mistake when they played the song live at Wacken Open Air 2019.

Track listing

1. "The Future of Warfare" Joakim Brodén   Tanks in the Battles of Flers-Courcelette and Villers-Bretonneux 3:26
2. "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" Brodén/Rörland    Lawrence of Arabia 3:02
3. "82nd All the Way" Brodén/Pär Sundström/Rörland Alvin York 3:31
4. "The Attack of the Dead Men" Brodén/Rörland Attack of the Dead Men 3:56
5. "Devil Dogs" Sundström/Brodén US Marines at the Battle of Belleau Wood 3:17
6. "The Red Baron" Brodén Manfred von Richthofen 3:22
7. "Great War" Sundström/Brodén/Carlsson Suffering in World War I, specifically, in the Battle of Passchendaele 4:28
8. "A Ghost in the Trenches" Brodén/Tommy Johansson Francis Pegahmagabow 3:26
9. "Fields of Verdun" Brodén/Sundström/Thobbe Englund French victory in the Battle of Verdun 3:17
10. "The End of the War to End All Wars" Brodén World War I casualties 4:45
11. "In Flanders Fields" John McCrae/Brodén A poem by John McCrae 1:57

Total length: 38:27

Recording information:

Recorded at at Black Lounge Studios, Grangärde, Sweden.