Sabaton
Carolus Rex

Testosteronic: it seems the most fitting adjective to describe this Scandinavian band, which I discovered a few months ago almost as a joke, goliardically. However, my more boisterous side was immediately captivated by their incredibly catchy melodies and their romantic and solemn lyrics. Central theme: war.
Let’s be clear: anyone with a little common sense repudiates war, and those who praise it as a concrete means of purification probably never experienced its consequences. On the other hand, we all recognize the dramatic necessity it has had, is having, and, I fear, will have in historical processes. Sabaton portray a plural vision of war in their songs, trying to escape bias and exalting its romanticism (strongly adhering to absolute ideals) and drama (its destructive, tragic, obliterating nature).
Thinking I was facing a familiar subject in the metal scene, I was surprised not to find at least one review of one of their finest works on this platform: we're talking about Carolus Rex. The work is dated 2012, but it stands as one of the band's most complete works and is a good starting point for approaching it in an engaging way. The album can be seen as a great concept, dealing with the rise, peak, and fall of the Swedish empire, a historical arc that unfolded over about a century (which I feel identifies with the seventeenth).
What differentiates this title from previous and subsequent works is not only the focus on a single theme at the expense of a plurality of eras and events but also the organic nature of the compositions; there's no clear distinction between single and filler, there's no quest for catchiness at all costs. Instead, there's a constant pursuit to find the balance of the work, unfolding, perfectly balanced, between surges of epicness and solemnly tragic marches, between furious battle rides and more thought-out narrative interludes. But above all, it's the ability to see and express with surprising clarity the two sides of the coin that can truly elevate this work by Sabaton over previous ones: the epic of deeds, the solemnity and titanism of leaders, inevitably correspond with the tragedy of war and the transience of illusions of grandeur and conquest. There's glory and there's death, there's exaltation and despair. It doesn't surprise then to see juxtaposed, in the lineup, the goliardic and paced "Gott Mit Uns", "God with us", with a moral slap (as never seen in their discography) like "A Lifetime of War"; war is crime, disease, madness, the ultimate and fatal tool of flattening to the same condition, death. And this is recognized even by war singers and valorous war value singers like Sabaton. As for the rest, I'll leave the Swedish epic entirely for you to discover.
Technically, it's clear that every aspect tends towards the exaltation of the epic, martial, almost sacred character of past events; therefore, there is an abundance of strings of all kinds, choirs (with strongly religious references), overdubs, and, in general, a great sense of epic classicism. This does not consequently mean a lesser sonic impact; galloping compositions in the true sense of the word, true sonic whips (above all, "1648"), are not lacking, maintaining the tension for the listener and accentuating that wave-like and alternating atmospheres felt in the themes.
Hoping to help someone else discover the goliardic microcosm this band manages to evoke like few others, I can only invite you to immerse yourself in this exciting epic through a century of wars, with the very first lyrics of the opening track (among my absolute favorite tracks of the band);
"A time of religion and war,
legends tell the tale of a lion..."