In 25 words or less: Being the “Sabaton Cruise”, it was a night purely about the magic between the band and a 2,000 strong crowd. 
OK, so I may not have been at this particular performance that is the primary feature on World War Live – Battle Of The Baltic Sea…but I have seen Sabaton perform live in the flesh in their native Sweden and I have seen other bands play on this particular cruise ship whilst sailing across the Baltic Sea. So listening to this, in my own mind at least, I can merge the three together to form my own mental picture to go along with the audio. Imagine this….about 2,000 metal heads, specifically Sabaton loving metal heads, who in my experience have witnessed attend a show dressed in fatigues and gas masks, storming aboard a multi level cruise ship that will be their home for 24 hours. With copious amounts of duty free alcohol for sale, not just available by the can, bottle, or slab…but depending on your poison, even with your own trolley on wheels making 4 slabs of beer so very transportable! Whilst this may be own personal experience, I am sure it isn’t too far from the picture of what went down on the 2010 Sabaton Cruise from which this live CD was recorded…
Although six albums in, the Swedish six piece in the last couple of years have only started to become a force to be reckoned with in the European metal scene, let alone the worldwide metal scene. Maybe in part, due to the war and battle themed nature of the bands lyrics and the connection others in parts such as Australia may have?, but definitely not in part to the accessibility and infectiousness of their distinctly European, symphonic, keyboard saturated metal.
For the best part of three years the band have opened their shows with the instrumental piece The March To War which acts as the cursor for the unmistakable chants of “Sa ba ton, Sa ba ton, Sa ba ton”…but does that even prepare you for the frenetic opening track Ghost Division? From then on, it’s a setlist comprised purely on the spot during the show. Being the “Sabaton Cruise”, it was a night purely about the magic between the band and a 2,000 strong crowd. Again referring back to my own experience of seeing Sabaton perform live, as well as having a genuine love for the band, the nature of their songs is just made for crowd participation in an almost celebratory and patriotic way. Adding to the whole experience of this live CD is the fact that all the between song chat from lead singer Jaokim Broden is in Swedish. Crowd noise too has been kept loud enough in the mix giving the album a true live feel…unlike some live albums out there that might as well have just been recorded in a recording studio. The likes of Uprising, Cliffs Of Gallipoli, White Death, 40:1, The Art Of War and Primo Victoria, all the band’s signature tracks are in the set. When they are not singing about famous historical European wars and battles, then it’s time to pay homage to the very bands that have influenced them with Metal Medley.
Acknowledging that the promo version only contains CD1, which is the performance from the Sabaton Cruise, the deluxe version of the release features a second CD with further tracks recorded during the band’s World War Tour of 2010. Additionally, there is a DVD of the band’s performance in 2008 at the festival they helped start up “Rockstad Falun”, as well as some bonus clips. Once again, a pretty massive package has been put together by Nuclear Blast!
With the band soon to embark on the 2011 Sabaton Cruise, a whole new journey of Sabaton metal mayhem awaits a 2,000 strong crowd…whilst those of us elsewhere await the bands next studio release.
Check out our interview with Par Sundstrom from Sabaton…
Essential Information
For fans of: Sabaton
Release date: Out now
Record label: Nuclear Blast/Riot! Entertainment
Websites: www.sabaton.net
Track listing:
CD1: Battle Of The Baltic Sea (Live At Sabatoncruise, Dec. 2010)
01. The March To War (Intro)
02. Ghost Division
03. Uprising
04. Aces In Exile
05. Cliffs Of Gallipoli
06. White Death
07. Swedish Pagans
08. Wolfpack
09. 40:1
10. The Art Of War
11. Attero Dominatus
12. The Price Of A Mile
13. Primo Victoria
14. Metal Medley
15. Dead Soliders Waltz (Outro)
CD2 (BONUS CD): World War Tour Live (Recorded during World War Tour 2010):
01. Screaming Eagles
02. Coat Of Arms
03. Into The Fire
04. Talvisota
05. Final Solution
06. Back In Control
07. Panzerkampf
08. 7734
09. Hellrider
10. Panzer Battalion
11. Rise Of Evil
12. 40:1
DVD (BONUS DVD): Sabaton live 2008 @ Rockstad Falun
– Coat Of Arms (video clip)
– Uprising (video clip)
– Screaming Eagles (video clip)
