SABOTØR – Første Aksjon

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6.0

• Bands:
  SABOTØR
• Duration: 00:33:19
• Available from: 05/08/2026
• Label:

• Dark Essence Records

War themes in the metal field are certainly nothing new, but there are those who still decide to tackle the topic in a particular way, yet 'particular' is not always synonymous with 'convincing': so we are talking about the debut of Sabotør, a trio from the cold lands of Norway.
Theirs is a heavy metal that borrows heavily from bands with different roots in punk, such as Warfare and English Dogs: the riffs are therefore very essential, almost all with simple powerchords, with some epic tone every now and then, capable of reminding us of another name, rightly appreciated by purists, such as Brocas Helm, or that of Darkthrone of the last twenty years, but without the glacial atmosphere that distinguishes them.
Their songs all deal with stories linked to the Second World War, but rather than limiting themselves to the most salient moments they decide to focus instead on the Norwegian resistance against the Nazi occupier: as a choice, in a panorama where the reference to this historical period often hides ambiguity and controversial positions, it instead appears to be a clear stance, and therefore commendable.

To do it best, from their point of view, they chose to sing only in their native language. On the one hand it makes sense: if the topic is so linked to events that happened to their people, it is perfectly legitimate not to use English; on the other hand, English would have been better in order to reach a wider audience, perhaps passionate about history (not therefore solely to monetize more).
As for the musical side, there is a considerable desire to orient everything towards the most classic song form for the genre, even if the choice to use a language so uncommon to the majority of listeners makes the work quite heavy to digest, overall.
The song that sticks out the most is “Total Kontroll”, not only because it is the only concept capable of emerging clearly from the entire album, but also for the choice to include an epic and awkward chorus between one verse and another, to add a little more pathos to the song. The most appreciable moments are in fact those in which the musicians go beyond the simplest riffs to include slightly more structured parts, such as in “Brente Jords Taktikk”, with a bridge full of arpeggios; this last element also reveals a melodic taste capable of emerging, at times – see in this regard the acoustic beginning in “Flagget”.
Among the elements that are not at all convincing, in addition to a certain static nature in proposing very basic solutions, there are also questionable stylistic choices, such as the chorus of “Skyggens Frekvens”, which seems copied in black and white from that of “Still Waiting” by Sum 41.

Overall, this “Første Aksjon” does not prove to be a very memorable work, moreover, being sung in Norwegian it is particularly difficult for those who do not speak the language. It's fine to choose sophisticated topics and propose them in the reference language, but with such a sparse sound it's not the best choice, especially if you want to reach a wider audience.