Today’s obscure album......might not actually be obscure. It had a resurgence of sorts in the late 2000s, despite it not being talked about much among the Power Metal faithful. It’s the origin of one of the most iconic modern bands in the world, but you don’t see it often unless you know where to look. After acquiring it last month as part of a gift, I thought it would make for a fun album to review for the start of this year. So let’s not waste anymore time, and get right into the very first thing that Sabaton ever did, Fist for Fight! Let’s begin.
Background
Like I said when I did my Sabaton overview in the late summer of 2017 (Which you can read here), information about the origins of these Swedish Superheroes is difficult at best. Even with the re-releases of their first 4 albums and the extra snippets of info put in the booklets, it still pretty hard to find anything cohesive. What little is known is that the band first appeared in the late 90s, when the metal revival got into the swing of things, and Power Metal really began to take flight. 5 men, who’s love of metal was blatantly obvious: Pär Sundström on bass, Rikard Sundén & Oskar Montelius on guitar, Daniel Mullback on drums, and the man himself, Joakim Brodén, on keyboard. Ironically, he wasn’t meant to be the singer at first, but after everybody else listened to his promo material, they made him the vocalist.
Basic Description
Blast from the past.
At first you might not believe that Fist For Fight was something made by Sabaton. It certainly comes across as such in terms of vocals & instrumentation, immediately notifying the listener as to who they’re listening to. What would probably make some people drop their jaw is that there’s none of the military history fans have come to expect. Instead, it feels very much like a typical Speed/Power Metal release of the late 90s to early 2000s.....and that’s not exactly a bad thing. Fist For Fight is a really good history lesson when it comes to examining Sabaton. However, it does have some big issues, but we’ll get to that in a little bit.
Best Track
Like I said in my Sabaton overview, I was fond of Metalizer, and I still am today. If there’s one thing I liked more in this original version, it would be the keyboarding work towards. In the revised version it comes across like syrupy & fun Power Metal keyboard, but with this one said keyboard has a church-like organ feel to it. It’s whiplash inducing to be sure (Especially if you listen to the 2007 version before this one), but if you can handle it, then it’s worth it.
Metalizer
Worst Track
Fist For Fight’s problems are twofold. For starters, this album is exceedingly rare. Even though it was a second CD on the Metalizer release (More on that in a later review), it’s almost impossible to find. I saw a used copy of it once on Amazon, but it went for the astronomical price of 770 dollars (Excluding cents & tax). That is insane, and I hope that it gets a re-release in time for it’s 20th anniversary!
The other problem is the overall quality. Fist For Fight isn’t a bad album by, but by god does it come across as dated. I assumed it got some kind of touchup for the Metalizer re-release, but despite any potential fixing, everything sounds & feels old. In the band’s defense, it’s understandable why: it was the first thing they’ve ever done. Despite their talent, they were green from the first few notes. Once they solidified together, things were better for them, but Fist For Fight still comes across as basic in every single aspect.
Other
If you’re curious about listening to this, check out the link below:
Fist For Fight
Overall Impression & Rating
Fist For Fight.....I’m kind of glad this wasn’t the first thing that Sabaton released to the public. Again, it’s not to say that it’s a bad album, cause it’s still jam packed with metallic fun, and can act as a history lesson about the band. At the same time, it’s obvious that the group needed a bit more polish, but it was worth the 5 year wait (Read here). Even with all that, I’d still recommend this to anyone who’s new to these Super Swedes. Definitely a nice meal.
Fist For Fight gets a 7.5 out of 10.
So that concludes the inaugural month of 2019 here on the blog! I hope you liked what I put up in January, and there’s plenty more I got planed for the rest of the year. See you all next month, when I got my second most bizarre theme ever. It’s sure to be......miniature.
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