I’m a bit knackered tonight, so it is a good thing my next album is a shot in the arm of good ole power metal!
Disc 1875 is… Metalizer (with bonus content Fist for Fight)
Artist: Sabaton
Year of Release: 2007 (although originally recorded in 2002)
What’s up with the Cover? This mechanical monstrosity has everything you could ask for.
Glow in the dark eyes? Check!
A helmet decorated with bullets? Check!
Can we surround the whole thing with human bones? You be we can!
How I Came To Know It: This was me digging backwards through Sabaton’s earlier records after I discovered them relatively late.
How It Stacks Up: At every Sabaton review it feels like I have recently added yet another record. While I don’t yet have Sabaton’s 2025 release, I am now up to nine total. Of those nine, “Metalizer” comes in at #7.
This reissue of Metalizer comes with a bonus CD of 2001 demos called “Fist for Fight” which has a lot of the same tracks (with different production) and a couple of extras. Given the overarching similarities, I am reviewing them as a single entity.
Ratings: 3 stars
Believe it or not there was a time when Swedish power metal band sang about something other than battles. Yes, hard to believe, I know, but everyone’s favourite heavy historians once made songs about other stuff.
That time was the early oughts, they recorded first “Fist for Fight” in 2001 and “Metalizer” in 2002. According to Wikipedia (which as we know, is never wrong) a bunch of copyright stuff denied us access to both until 2007. As a late adopter of Sabaton this did not affect me one whit, but was probably deeply frustrating for the band.
If back in the day I had known there was a record like “Metalizer” gathering dust on some shelf for five years I would’ve been frustrated as well, because this record is awesome on many levels.
It is a glimpse into the early influences and approach of Sabaton. They were already an amazing band – tight and loaded with oomph – and these early works are great to watch them explore their sound and subject matter.
A title like “Metalizer” may feel a bit on the nose, and while that’s true, you won’t mind so much after you listen to it. Sabaton embraces the concept of metal on this record like it’s a religion. The title track is about how much fun it is to enjoy heavy metal and that’s about it. Metal is all that they need, and they want you to know it.
The lads wear their love for Judas Priest on their sleeves, with lyrics like “While hell bends for leather we stand strong”. The last song on the original record (not counting covers) is “Masters of the World” which owes a lot to Judas Priest anthems “Take on the World” and “United” but is glorious in its own right, and a worthy entry in the canon of songs that celebrate the brotherhood (and sisterhood) of heavy metal music.
This re-issue of “Metalizer” even features a bonus track of the band covering Priest’s “Jawbreaker” which is worthy homage.
My favourite song on the record is “Shadows” which is the story of the nine Nazgul in Lord of the Rings. The song has the furious guitar riffs that Sabaton excel at. It is filled with dire portents and a doom that doesn’t creep toward you so much as gallop. Want to know in your bones what it is like to be Frodo pursued across a plain by a Black Rider? This song is a good approximation.
Sometimes on this record it is hard to know if Sabaton might be taking the piss, however. Since “7734” featured a number and a whole lot of heroic exaltation and I was sure it must feature a battle. However, I came up empty on this one, and all the internet could offer is that 7734 spells “hell” upside down on a calculator. Part of me hopes there is more to this song, and part of me doesn’t.
What makes every song work – from the heartfelt to the hokey – is the vocal prowess of frontman Joakim Broden. Broden doesn’t artfully growl like Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg, and he doesn’t soar the high notes like Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson. Nonetheless, Broden has a weapon just as powerful – he’s got bombast. You can’t teach the unfathomable depths of bombast in Broden’s voice. It just is. He is like the Lord Humongous himself before the gates of the last oil refinery in the outback; he just knows he’s the biggest and the baddest, and his thunderous chest voice announces that fact in every song.
The rest of the band is up to Broden’s challenge, and together these guys know how to make everything sound important. The guitar riffs are timeless, the drums are furious and the whole effect lifts your ass out of your seat.
As an early effort “Metalizer” is a bit raw around the edges, and some of the songs have some eye-rolling lyrics but Sabaton is all in. It’s not as consistently great as some of their later records, but it has plenty to recommend it.
Best tracks: Thundergods, Metalizer, Shadows, 7734, Masters of the World
P.S.: A quick note from “Fist for Fight” which has a lighter production touch (being mostly demos) but also features the inspired “The Hammer Has Fallen” which shows a softer, symphonic sound and despite being buried on a demo collection, is one of my all-time favourite Sabaton songs.
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