Holy smokes, what a fantastic collection of contemporary pirate music! Once again, Antti Martikainen has proven to us all that instrumental songs have their rightful place in modern day music. Bravo, here here, sit back and relax, and enjoy the ride.
The Great War is the ninth studio album by Swedish power metal band Sabaton. It was released on 19 July 2019. It is the first studio album to feature guitarist Tommy Johansson. The album was released in four separate editions: the standard release, a history edition with contextual narration preceding each track, a soundtrack edition featuring instrumental versions of the songs, and a Sabaton History Patreon exclusive release containing narration by Indy Neidell. The Great War garnered mostly positive reviews. Metal Hammer's Holly Wright gave it 4/5 stars, praising it as "a rip-roaring, riff-addled march towards victory, coaxing influences from folk and power metal that sounds remarkably upbeat for an account of bloodthirsty mass destruction." The Guardian's Dave Simpson rated the album 3/5 stars and said he preferred the History version, which precedes the songs with voiceovers describing the events the songs are about.