Carolus Rex (album)
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Studio album by 
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Publication |
2012 |
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| Label (s) | Nuclear Blast | |||
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CD |
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Title (number) |
12 (26 - Limited Edition) |
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running time |
49 min 10 sec |
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Furthermore:
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Peter Tagtgren and Sabaton |
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Studio (s) |
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Carolus Rex is the sixth studio album by the Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton and the first in the band's history to be sung entirely in Swedish. According to Karl XII. The concept album named by Sweden (Carolus Rex) is about the country's great power times , beginning with Gustav Adolf , through the Thirty Years' War to the death of Karl during the siege of Frederikshald and the subsequent decline of Sweden.
General
The recordings for Carolus Rex began on January 2nd, 2012. The album was released in English as well as in Swedish. In addition, it is the last album in which the long-time band members Oskar Montelius, Rikard Sundén, Daniel Mullback and Daniel Mÿhr were involved and of which the first two had co-founded the band. This left Joakim Brodén and Pär Sundström as the only founding members.
In a 2012 interview with Grande Rock, bassist Pär Sundström said of the album: “It is by far the best album we have made.” He went on to say about the album title: “A lot of people have asked us why we are always talking about history other nations sing, but never about Swedish history. Then when we met the historian Bengt Liljegreen, we could do it with his help and it turned out great. "
Music and lyrics
In an interview with terrorverlag.com Brodén said about the work with producer Peter Tägtgren : “Peter Tägtgren spoke to us and asked us if we didn't like him and why we hadn't recorded an album with him yet, at this point we noticed that we had recorded individual parts with him in the past, but not a complete production. We asked him what he had in mind and he said, 'I want Sabaton on steroids'. We asked him what the hell Sabaton is supposed to be on steroids and he said I take all the typical Sabaton elements and make it bigger and fatter. And that's exactly what he managed to do. Epic sound from big choirs and fat guitars. [...] He demanded a lot from each of us, especially from me as a singer. He has also contributed some new songwriting [sic] and production tips. Especially with the synths he encouraged us not to always use the same sounds, but to try something new. That turned out to be very good. "
Regarding the music, Sundström said in an interview with musicalobserver.de : “If the accusation that this is 'Easy Listening Metal' were true, that would be good. It would help us get new fans. If we didn't want to get new fans, we could stop right away. There is no reason to play and get stuck with old patterns. In our opinion, we will get better and that way we will gain new fans. If we just kept doing what we did five years ago, we would be dead. It would be completely pointless. I would stop immediately. "
Like World War Live - Battle of the Baltic Sea , Heroes and The Last Stand , Carolus Rex was mastered by Jonas Kjellgren , producer of The Great War .
The sounds of war on the album were created partly with samples, partly with everyday objects such as cutlery boxes.
To make the texts historically precise, the band worked with the Swedish historian Bengt Liljegren .
Track list
(the titles of the Swedish version in square brackets)
- Dominium Maris Baltici (instrumental) - 0:29
- The Lion from the North - 4:42 (Music: Brodén, Text: Brodén / Sundström) [ Lejonet från Norden ]
- God with us - 3:15 (music: Brodén, text: Brodén / Sundström) [ God with us ]
- A Lifetime of War - 5:45 (music: Brodén, text: Brodén / Sundström) [ En livstid i krig ]
- 1 6 4 8 - 3:54 (music: Brodén, text: Brodén / Sundström)
- The Carolean's Prayer - 6:14 (music: Brodén, text: Brodén) [ Karolinens bön ]
- Carolus Rex - 4:53 (music: Brodén / Kängström, text: Brodén / Sundström)
- Killing Ground - 4:24 (Music: Brodén / Kängström, Text: Brodén / Sundström) [ Ett slag färgat rött - a red-colored battle]
- Poltava - 4:03 (music: Brodén, text: Sundström)
- Long Live the King - 4:09 (Music: Brodén, Text: Brodén / Sundström) [ Konungens likfärd - The King's Death Train ]
- Ruina Imperii - 3:21 (music: Brodén, text: Brodén / Sundström)
- Twilight of the Thunder God ( Amon Amarth cover version - bonus track with Peter Tägtgren)
The Swedish version has the bonus title instead
The US version has the following instead of the bonus title:
- In the Army Now ( Bolland & Bolland - Bonus Track) - 3:58
There are a total of five different versions of the album. In addition to the regular Swedish and English versions, there is a special edition. This contains both the English and the Swedish version of the album including all three bonus tracks that were added to the English version. There is also the limited 2CD digibook. In contrast to the Special Edition , it does not contain the bonus titles In the Army Now and Feuer frei! , but is otherwise identical.
Details about the individual pieces
- Dominium Maris Baltici
- Dominium Maris Baltici is the only instrumental piece by Sabaton, it slides over as an intro in The Lion from the North . The title quotes the so-called Dominium maris baltici , the military and economic dominance over the area of the Baltic Sea .
- The Lion from the North / Lejonet från Norden
- This song is about Gustav II Adolf. Like Primo Victoria , Attero Dominatus and Resist and Bite , the piece contains Latin verses. In addition, reference is made to the king's German nickname "the lion from midnight".
- God with us
- God with Us is named after the battle cry of the Protestants in the Thirty Years' War and deals with the first battle at Breitenfeld , which gave the war a decisive turning point. Originally one of the guitarists, or both of them, was supposed to sing the verses for God with us , but because it was already clear during the production of the album that they would leave, producer Tägtgren unceremoniously sang the parts. Live the guitarists share the parts sung by Tägtgren.
- A Lifetime of War / En livstid i krig
- A Lifetime of War deals with the Thirty Years War in general and with the sectarian division of Europe. In an interview given in 2014, Brodén said the following about the play:
"On Carolus Rex, A Lifetime of War suffered from not slowing down enough. That was one of the drawbacks of Carolus Rex. From start to finish it's maxed out - there's no breathing pause in the middle where things slow down a bit. "
- 1 6 4 8
- 1 6 4 8 deals with the siege of Prague that year.
- The Carolean's Prayer / Karolinens bön
- This piece is dedicated to the Carolinians .
- Carolus Rex
- Carolus Rex is from the point of view of Charles XII. written and describes his coronation, which he regards as God's will.
- Killing Ground / Ett slag färgat rött
- This song deals with the battle of Fraustadt and the Swedish execution of Russian prisoners.
- Poltava
- Poltava addresses the Swedish defeat against the Russians in the Battle of Poltava .
- Long Live the King / Konungens likfärd
- This song deals with the death of Charles XII. and his train of death.
- Ruina Imperii
- Ruina Imperii deals with the death march of the Carolinians and the end of Sweden as a great power. The song is the outro of the album and is the only Sabaton track that was not released in English.
- Cover pieces
- In addition to Gott mit uns , producer Tägtgren also sang the growling part of Twilight of the Thunder God .
In an interview with metalkaoz.com , Sundström commented on the cover pieces that were released as bonus titles :
“I wanted us to do something new and kind of unexpected. Since I am a fan of Amon Amarth and some of their songs are very melodic even though they're using growling vocals, we chose to cover 'Twilight of the Thunder God'. Joakim had sung 'Fire Free!' with Rammstein live in Holland a couple of years and it sounded really cool. And I think 'In the Army Now' suits perfectly in Sabaton so we did that also. ”
Reviews
- Michael Edele wrote for laut.de : “Sabaton did the work to provide their new album Carolus Rex with both English and Swedish lyrics, and even before the part is on the market, most of the band will donate . That creates additional interest in the band, but can you really be happy about it? [...]
- Maybe not so bad at all if the gentlemen guitarists are allowed to get involved as songwriters in the future, because there is hardly much new to report from Sabaton.
- This is true in both positive and negative ways. With Carolus Rex, fans of the Swedes get pretty much exactly what they expect from the war heroes. [...]
- They break out of the familiar patterns for the first time with the ballad-like A Lifetime Of War . Sabaton is rarely known from this side, but they cut a really good figure here, which is also proven by the sluggish The Carolean's Prayer .
- The familiar title track or the rousing Poltava , on the other hand, are bombastic and driving as usual, where every fan will probably stretch their fist up live. This is a safe area for Sabaton, nobody can fool them that easily. However, you orientate yourself all too clearly to your own past in terms of Art Of War .
- Whether a musical chapter in the band's history will come to an end with Carolus Rex will only be revealed with the next album. Because even if the fans are undoubtedly served with the disc, a few new impulses would certainly not be a mistake. "
- Enrico Ahlig wrote for the Metal Hammer : “Anyone who expects a Power Metal sustained fire should take cover in amazement, because powerful hymns are strategically cleverly shot out of the pipes and provide highlights and an unprecedented variety in this form. The opener 'The Lion From The North' begins in the classic up-tempo format, but with 'Gott mit uns' (Übersersong) and the trench hit 'A Lifetime Of War', Sabaton shows the new battle plan: less blitzkrieg, instead more pathos, more melody and more guitar solos. Fortunately, these don't seem fake, because Sabaton let classic Metal speak for the occasional fast numbers ('1 6 4 8', 'Killing Ground') and the kitsch mostly in the bunker. All the more fat it is packed on with anthems like 'Long Live The King' or 'The Carolean's Prayer'. Sure, none of this is innovative again, but no judge has issued a penalty for stealing himself. Therefore, haters continue to have, while the rest of them are in a good mood jumping around with rubber guns in front of the stage.
- With CAROLUS REX, the Swedes have finally shot into the premier league. One can only hope that the newly filled troop will also work live - if so, then the world cannot be saved from Sabaton. "
Web links
- Carolus Rex . In: Official website of Sabaton
- Carolus Rex in the Encyclopaedia Metallum
- Carolus Rex at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sabaton Frontman: Under Any Circumstance, If Possible, The Show Must Go On . In: Metal Underground ; Retrieved July 11, 2017
- ↑ Pär Sundström interview. Grande rock.
- ↑ a b c Sabaton (Joakim Brodén) . terrorverlag.com, May 7, 2012: accessed July 6, 2017
- ↑ In conversation: Sabaton bassist Pär Sundström . musicalobserver.de, 2013
- ↑ a b Maria Voutiriadou, Dimitris Kontogeorgakos: Sabaton - Pär Sundström, Thobbe Englund . metalkaoz.com; Retrieved July 10, 2017
- ^ Interview - “Behind the Scenes with the Metal War Historians, Sabaton” . vandalamagazine.com, November 10, 2014; Retrieved July 11, 2017
- ↑ Michael Edele: Carolus Rex. In: laut.de. May 25, 2012, Retrieved September 11, 2019 (review).
- ↑ Review in Metal Hammer , last accessed on September 11, 2019.