Band:	Sabaton
Album:	Carolus Rex
Style:	Power metal
Release date:	May 2012

Disc I [Swedish version]
01. Dominium Maris Baltici
02. Lejonet Från Norden
03. Gott Mit Uns
04. En Livstid I Krig
05. 1648
06. Karolinens Bön
07. Carolus Rex
08. Ett Slag Färgat Rött
09. Poltava
10. Konungens Likfärd
11. Ruina Imperii


Disc II [English version]
01. Dominium Maris Baltici
02. The Lion From The North
03. Gott Mit Uns
04. A Lifetime Of War
05. 1648
06. The Carolean's Prayer
07. Carolus Rex
08. Killing Ground
09. Poltava
10. Long Live The King
11. Ruina Imperii
12. Twilight Of The Thunder God [Amon Amarth cover] [Mailorder edition bonus]
13. In The Army Now [Status Quo cover] [Mailorder edition bonus]
14. Feuer Frei [Rammstein cover] [Mailorder edition bonus]

I must admit that I was disappointed when I first listened to Carolus Rex. By the time this album was released, Sabaton had been firmly established as one of my favorite bands, and from the moment I held Coat Of Arms in my hands I was eagerly awaiting the next masterpiece. Upon first listen, I was a little confused and let down. Carolus Rex sounds more like Sabaton than any previous Sabaton release. I could take literally any song from this album and tell you which older songs had been mashed up to produce it (for example, "The Lion From The North" is "Coat Of Arms" plus "40:1," "Gott Mit Uns" is basically "Union"). Fortunately, I refused to accept that Sabaton could produce anything less than pure, weapons-grade excellence, so I listened again and again until I understood it.

Upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that Carolus Rex has far more to offer than simple re-writes and re-hashes. Perhaps it is the nature of a concept album, the fact that Sabaton get to sing about their own national heroes, or some other third thing, but the guys obviously put their hearts into these songs like no previous venture. The songs gel remarkably well, and it is difficult to rate them individually because the album is such a strong effort in its entirety. Peter Tägtgren adds much personality to "Gott Mit Uns," the pounding "Poltava" is impossible to get out of your head, and the bridge in the middle of "Killing Ground" will force you to raise your fist in the air and shout along mightily.

The truth is that if you know Sabaton to any reasonable extent, you will know exactly what to expect from Carolus Rex. Joakim Broden's deep, gravelly voice and Brobdingnagian sing-along choruses, bright keyboards and twin lead guitars, lyrics about killing and fighting and dying and death; it's all here. It flows like Coat Of Arms, it enchants like The Art Of War, and it kicks ass like Primo Victoria. The title track is a work of art so great that the rest of the album could have been Sabaton's own Lulu and I would not have noticed. The drums pound like cannon fire, the solo carries the soul of the entire Swedish Empire, and the hooks are so gigantic that they make Devin Townsend's discography look like the list of successful communist regimes. No matter how loud your system is, when "Carolus Rex" starts playing, it needs to be one louder.

Ultimately, Carolus Rex was a disappointment that evolved into a blessing. You would think that such an admittedly formulaic band would soon run out of fantastic songs to write, but judging by this record, Sabaton have not yet reached that point, and might never.