SABATON — Carolus Rex (review)

SABATON — Carolus Rex album cover Album · 2012 · Power Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Kev Rowland
‘Carolus Rex’ was originally released in 2012, a concept album about Sweden’s 17th and 18th century empire, with a special focus on the rise and fall of Charles XII, the tragic king who devoted his whole life to war but could not prevent his empire’s downfall. They were the first Swedish metal band to gain platinum status in their home country, and it was recently certified as quadruple platinum, so it has been reissued with new artwork, additional tracks and even blu-ray discs. I always think of this as the beginning of the Sabaton at the top of their particular power metal tree, although strangely enough I have always preferred the albums which followed this.

The powerful riffs, strong anthems and vocals are of course all in place, but it never really has the spark which is so prevalent on the later works. Strangely enough, the live album which followed this and includes plenty of these songs is probably the one I would suggest people listen to first when coming across the band before moving on to ‘Heroes’ and ‘The Last Stand’. There are some bonus songs on the new version, including a Sabaton-ised version of “In The Army Now”. It may fit with their lyrical vision, but it certainly doesn’t fit musically! Made me smile though. Sabaton have released great albums throughout their career, and while I don’t think this is one of them it is still certainly worth investigating in the new expanded versions.
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