Sabaton
Blender Theatre
New York City, New York
September 20, 2011
Tony Pijar

Upon reflection, I still cannot believe the overwhelming at the reception the New York crowd bestowed upon Sabaton all throughout their set. As soon as one song ended, the deafening, roof-raising chants of ‘Sabaton..Sabaton’ filled the venue. Damn it – we need more Euro metal bands to get over here pronto! There’s an eager audience here awaiting their arrivals.
On to Sabaton. A brilliant set of in-your-face power metal. The band hit first with the brutal “Ghost Division” and followed with “Uprising”. Vocalist Joakim Broden is a splendid front man who is a merging of Ralf Scheepers and a younger Rob Halford. The voice he possesses is both melodic and raw at the same time. Guitarists Rikard Sunden and Oskar Montelius complement each other perfectly ripping out one blazing riff after another. “Panzer Battalion”, “Cliffs of Gallipoli”, “Screaming Eagles”, etc all pulverized. For those social studies teachers out there, most of Sabaton’s lyrical content is based on historical events from throughout the past; instructors could add a spark to those Global Civilization mini-units.
The band concluded with “Primo Victoria” and sent the satiated crowd home satisfying that much-needed live metal quotient for the week.