Civil War began their life when Sabaton frontman Joakim Broden pretty much decided to change an entire lineup around him, thus leaving the rest of the band without employment. Quickly the rest pulled together a second rate “copy” with one Nils Patrik Johansson singer of Astral Doors and others known for having a raspy, somewhat Dioesque voice. The result was not bad, but the band never really managed to overcome their progenitor source.
Enter the pandemic and a rather disgraceful reveal that one of their guitar players was in possession of child pornography and one would guess that all this must have taken its toll… so some eight long years after their last release, “The Last Full Measure” and with Thobbe Englund on guitars and one Kelly Sundown Carpenter (Adagio, Darkology, Firewind [live], Outworld, Epysode etc.) on vocals the band returns with a new album. “Invaders”.
Carpenter is a huge vocal upgrade to the band, strengthening the vocal department of the band considerably, with his performance, that tries to bridge his naturally raspy and histrionic delivery – that’s best summed as an interesting take on D. Wayne, the original Metal Church vocalist, but considering his own impressive achievements formerly, namely in Outworld that included some mad high notes and Darkology where he had a really varied approach ranging from whispers, to wails and everything in between, while maintaining a sky high painkilleresque tone, or even Epysode, where he did some of his most melodic singing, he sounds very tame and one dimensional here. Obviously the very by the numbers musical style and motifs are partly to blame, as the keyboard rich bland europower, of the band leaves little space for vocal experiments.
Opener “Oblivion” begins with a strong eastern melody and a menacing Carpenter and manages to elevate itself to some nice symphonic heights. There’s a nice guitar solo and a neat interwoven undercurrent of a groove in the song, but my only qualm would be some keys taking to the fore, which make the track momentarily sound like the soundtrack of Borat (a bad take on eastern European folk)
“Dead Man’s Glory” begins promising enough, but the shanty like keyboards and the more by the number vocal melodies steal points from the song. Keyboards are a little less annoying and guitars are poignant when the solo comes, but it somehow all feels a little half cooked. Not everything is a Bourrée, ye know. But not all that bad.
The title track, “Invaders”, once again begins promisingly, allowing Carpenter a little more variety, but while the band tries hard to make themselves distinguish themselves from the ever samey-Sabaton fare, here seem to rely a little bit too much on the keyboardy fluff… and why on earth do there have to be so many keyboard leads, when the guitar ones are so clearly superior? Even the traded blows here, are kinda meh, as far as the keys are concerned.
“Heart of Darkness” has Carpenter, trying to sing in a more restrained manner, but not as melodic as say, what he did in the Epysode debut. It makes however for a welcome change in pace and style. I don’t even hate the keys that much here, that are often a reason for mad discontent when they come to the fore.
“Andersonville” begins a little like a ballad, allowing Carpenter to lament a little, in ways that Brodin could only dream about, but the song falls victim of its slower pace and its own conventionality, as the band’s simplistic compositional process doesn’t allow for very complex arrangements or out of this world ideas. So, structure wise things are blunt.
“Carry On” begins a little with an intro that has you believe it’s gonna be a two-fisted pumping anthem in the style that bands like Dynazty have perfected; it however subverts expectations with Sundown actually going for a very restrained vocal, almost without grit, that’s actually not bad at all. Despite its Eurovision-y style here and there, the contrast of styles makes for an interesting song, a strong enough chorus and a nice poignant guitar solo make this lil’ song a winner, imnsho.
“Soldiers and Kings” finally seems to allow enough enough space for Carpenter to display his talents and even if it’s one of the more Sabaton’esque sounding numbers and it features one of those boring key-interludes, prior to the guitar takeover, can’t be too marred. It’s another winner that will actually remind to the band’s fans of their “older” style. It’s actually the best, possible compromise between all different elements in the band’s sound.
“Warrior Soul” has Carpenter doing all the heavy lifting, against a rather blunt, very rhythmical backdrop, allowing him full reign, which is largely a good thing, but makes the song a little lacking in oomph. The solo here is really beautiful, even with the keyboard flourishes and all.
“Slaughterhouse 5” is a weird case. In trying to distance itself from the band’s usual style, ever so little, it does so, but with building blocks that make it sound like “them”. It’s more atmospheric than anything else and has some nifty moments (ie the “heavenly choir” vocal, the intro etc.) and the main riff is pretty solid, but… can’t help feeling like somethings a little amiss.
“Battle of Life” has a flurry of annoying keyboards that thankfully give way to a nice guitar part, but while the melody isn’t bad, the happy power mode, that’s reminiscent of the band’s past is a little offsetting, at the very least. Wouldn’t mind the song the song in a live environment, but it feels far plainer in recorded form.
“Custer’s Last Stand” is an interesting piece, a remake of the track from the band’s original EP, and a concept piece about the battle at Little Bighorn (The Great Sioux War of 1876), which actually feels like a culmination again of all the creative forces within the band, delivering a great track, something that’s not always the case, at least not entirely. Here, the atmosphere is believable and the musical elements do not overshadow it, with the band striking a perfect balance. Great. Cool.
No doubt, Civil War’s strongest output to date, not little thanks to Carpenters immense vocal prowess and the band’s willingness to experiment a little more and deviate from the formula, a possible aporia of replacing one of its guitarists. Whatever the case, this is the first Civil War album, I could hear with a straight face and actually partially enjoy.
