Sabaton: history, composition, style and discography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

There are a huge number of metal bands that raise the social problems of mankind in their work. The Swedish group Sabaton is one of them, narrating both bloody wars and fateful historical battles. Therefore, it is not surprising that the guys named their gang after the iron boot (eng. saba ton - a piece of knightly armor that protects a certain part of the leg), to emphasize the theme of fierce battles.

Start

The team came about as a result of the collapse of Aeon, when the founding musicians decided to work together with Joachim Broden and Oscar Montelius. Therefore, in 1999, the rock band Sabaton was put together in the Swedish city of Falun. The original line-up of the team remained virtually unchanged until 2012.

In 2001, the musicians turned to Tommy Tegtgren, who often took part in the creation of many compositions, in order to finish what they started inprevious draft album. The guys recorded a demo Fist for Fight, which was released under the label Underground Symphony in the same year.

Then the musicians returned to their native Abyss Studios, recorded under a new name their first album Metalizer, which was released only five years later.

Promotion

Because the chosen label was slow to support Metalizer, the guys recorded a new album at Abyss Studios, calling it Primo Victoria. The chosen name was rather militant, as if shouting to the world that the musicians would sooner or later achieve their goal and conquer the world.

Sabaton signed with Black Lodge and Metalizer was recorded in 2005. Shortly before this, the team was replenished with keyboardist Daniel Muir, since vocalist Joachim Broden had previously played this instrument himself. A year later, the full band went on a tour abroad, presenting the new album Attero Dominatus.

The tour turned out to be very fruitful, so the next tour was scheduled for the very near future. It can be said that the Iron Shoes returned home only in order to hold several show programs together with Lordi, who won the Eurovision 2006 contest.

Recognition

The second tour gave the band the opportunity to perform on the same stage with metal monsters Grave Digger and Therion and show themselves to the world. In the meantime, the former and current labels finally agreed on a transfer of authority, and Metalizer, recorded five years ago, was released andreplicated. By the way, the war was never mentioned in it, the theme leaned mainly towards mysticism and the fantasy genre.

After the release of the album, Sabaton embarked on a major European tour called Metalizing Europe. In the course of performances in different cities, the group gained more and more popularity, becoming almost the most important guests of any festival.

World fame

2007 was a very fruitful year for Sabaton, because in addition to several concerts, they had a chance to take part in the tour of the legendary Helloween. In addition, the musicians began to work on the creation of another studio album called The Art of War. The texts were based on the ancient book Sun Tzu, which was over two and a half thousand years old. The single Cliffs Of Gallipoli was released a little earlier and immediately gained popularity among Swedish listeners. The Sabaton album The Art of War was the commercial and most successful. There were so many positive reviews that the guys were nominated for a Grammy Award.

New milestone in development

The next two years were particularly busy, as Sabaton played just over 160 shows in several countries. By the way, the Poles liked the musicians so much that they gave them citizenship of their country. Significant events in 2008 and 2009 were performances on the same stage with Dragonforce and HammerFall.

In general, the guys worked tirelessly and decided to involve their attentive fans in the next album of Coat of Arms. The idea wasreceived by the fans with particular enthusiasm, so a lot of response letters were received. Then it wasn't long before they had a contract with the cool label Nuclear Blast in their pocket.

The following years, the Sabaton group also traveled the world with concerts, re-recording old albums and implementing new ones. May 2011 made Russian fans happy, as on the 12th the team warmed up the audience before the Scorpions performance at the St. Petersburg Ice Palace, and on May 26 the following year, the event was repeated, but already in Moscow at the Olimpiyskiy.

Style

Sabaton's songs have all the qualities of power metal, but for their love of military subjects they are considered to be the founders of a new genre called battle-metal. There are well-oiled guitar riffs in their compositions, and keys sounding in the background, and the strong voice of the frontman, and even choral sing-alongs.

The songs mostly feature significant battles of the 20th century. The texts describe the history of various battles and the philosophy of military affairs. It mentions such well-known political figures as King Gustav II Adolf, dictator Adolf Hitler, King Karl XII, Marshal of the USSR Georgy Zhukov, Joseph Stalin and many other prominent personalities.

Today line-up

Throughout the entire creative journey, some metamorphoses took place in the team, but strong changes occurred in 2012. Today the line-up of the group looks like this:

1. Joachim Broden - Vocals, Rhythm & Bass, Keyboards.
2. Per Sundstrom– backing vocals, bass.
3. Hannes Van Daal - drums.
4. Chris Reland - backing vocals, rhythm guitar.
5. Tommy Johansson - lead guitar.

Discography

During its official existence, the Sabaton group released 8 albums, and this indicates the high creative potential of the guys. Here is a list of the results of their efforts:

1. Primo Victoria – 2005 (Black Lodge Records);
2. Attero Dominatus – 2006 (Black Lodge Records);
3. Metalizer – 2007 (Black Lodge Records);
4. The Art of War – 2008 (Black Lodge Records);
5. Coat of Arms – 2010 (Nuclear Blast);
6. Carolus Rex - 2012 (Nuclear Blast);
7. Heroes – 2014 (Nuclear Blast);
8. The Last Stand – 2016 (Nuclear Blast).

These talented Swedes are living proof that patience and work will grind everything. Their songs are listened to by metalheads all over the world, and for a real musician there is no greater happiness than world recognition. Therefore, dare, comrades, maybe you will be able to achieve something in this life!