Sabaton
Attero Dominatus

The saga of Sabaton continues with the third album Attero Dominatus, a confirmation after the overwhelming Primo Victoria, and serves as a more than worthy continuation. Essentially, there are no new elements compared to the previous album, nor is there a need for any, given its release just a year after. The themes remain centered around war, on general subjects rather than specific events, and the style alternates between fast and energetic tracks to slower ones rich in power and drama.

We begin with the titular main song of the album, Attero Dominatus, which is extremely fast, epic, and full of the drama about to befall the German people after the Battle of Berlin against the Red Army. Stunning. The journey continues, not in the best of ways, with Nuclear Attack, a track that personally doesn't fascinate me much, nothing special, but immediately after comes Rise of Evil, and here we take a giant leap: the theme of Hitler's rise is excellently handled, the sound is both dark and epic, a perfect portrayal of the rise of an empire and a deadly war machine behind which lies the darkness of Nazi ideology. We now move to In the Name of God, a song with a delicate but well-managed theme; stylistically, it's there, and personally, I've grown to like it over time, especially due to the halting intro that draws attention away from the central part of the song. We proceed with We Burn, perhaps a bit behind compared to the other songs, tending towards the tones of Fist for Fight but still appreciable, and Angels Calling, on whose fatal tones we can imagine the conditions of soldiers in the First World War. We finish with Back in Control, Light in the Black and Metal Crue: the first two are opposites, the first is filled with energy and quickness, energetic and vital, rich in the power of war, while the second is more paced and rhythmic, based on the theme of hope for a revival at the end of the war; Metal Crue is the second track dedicated to the entire Metal genre, composed of famous lines from the most renowned lyrics of historical and famous bands like Queen, Iron Maiden and Kiss.

From the bonus version, I only mention Metal Medley, a mix of Metal Machine and Metal Crue, and Nightchild, a reinterpretation of the track Purple Heart.

In conclusion, I'll repeat myself: an excellent album, primarily a confirmation, although not as revolutionary as the important Primo Victoria.

As a rating, I give it a 4, but in reality, it’s just to indicate that half-point less it has compared to Primo Victoria for its greater significance.