Sweden is great. The countryside is beautiful, there are karps in the canals, men in turquoise hotpants carrying bin bags of questionable nature here and there, and sometimes a giant Dutchman will appear and cuddle a tumbledryer (these are all factual, by the way). But what I love Sweden for more than anything is the music scene.
You can probably tell from the artwork that this album is very, very Swedish. In fact, it's a concept disc about the rise and fall of the Swedish Empire in the 16-1700s. Each song plays part of the story, progressing in a linear fashion, cataloging the key events from various perspectives.
Now, if you have any passing familiarity with this band, you'll know that they're a bit cheesy and a lot ridiculous. That's their appeal. The songs are all grandiose, singalong anthems, and this album continues that trend, refining it so that the rapid power metal style they tend towards is expanded. They've done ballads before, but nothing quite on the level that they do here ('A Lifetime of War', 'The Carolean's Prayer').
The album also comes in differing languages. I have the English and Swedish ones (yup, both). The versions cover roughly similar territories, with the points of view changing depending on the song ('A Lifetime of War' is a general diatribe about the pointless waste of life that came with the Thirty Years' War, whereas 'En Livsted i Krig (the Swedish version) handles the soldier wondering if he'll see his family again).
The quality of each song is great, too. It's very hard to pick standouts because of the bar each one sets, but personal favourites include 'The Lion from the North', 'The Carolean's Prayer' and 'Carolus Rex', which has to be one of the most ominous sounding tracks I've heard of late.
If you don't know this band, or this album, I'd suggest you check it out. I'm now planning to try and see them live at some stage.
10/10
