Sabaton is a Swedish Heavy Metal band. (English lyrics!) I really like some of their work, while some of it leaves me cold. Today's song, well, I've only heard it a couple of times, but I think it is pretty good.
Sabaton has released a couple of new songs recently, and also released a fair number of videos of old songs. They are currently touring the US, with a few stops in Canada. After the first of the year they will be touring Europe, with a few stops in the UK. I hope all this activity means that a new album is coming out, but I haven't seen anything specifically about that.
UPDATE: Not sure how I missed it, but they have announced a new album that will be out in March of 2022.
This is "Steel Commanders" from Sabaton. It was released as a single on September 17th.
Doro has been rocking Heavy Metal since the early 1980s. She was lead singer for the German Heavy Metal band Warlock, starting in 1982. When she was the last member standing, she was told she didn't have the rights to the band name. So she named her new band Doro, and never missed a step.
I found this song via the Sabaton History channel on YouTube, which I only found recently.
This is a cover of the classic "Breaking the Law" by Doro featuring The Classic Night Orchestra. It was part of her 2004 album Classic Diamonds. This was originally by the band Judas Priest. The original was released in 1980. This is fitting because Warlock has been compared to Judas Priest.
Sabaton is a Swedish, Power-Metal band from Falun. Don't worry, they sing in English. They are apparently gearing up for a tour in 2022, and have released a couple of new videos. Most were from old albums. This one, looks to be new. I expect that means that an album will be forthcoming, but I can't find any reference to it yet.
The lyrics are in the video, but I usually have no trouble understanding Joakim "Jocke" Brodén; he is singing fairly clearly given that this IS metal. It you want the lyrics, they can be found at this link.
This song Is Kingdom Come by Sabaton. It was released as a single on July 16th. As far as I can tell, it is not part of an album, though my knowledge of Sabaton is not encyclopedic.
Sabaton is a Swedish Heavy Metal band that has a thing for historically based lyrics. They are planning a 2022 tour, and so they have released at least one new video, even though the song is not new. I will have to look for other videos.
This is "The Price Of A Mile" by Sabaton from their 2008 album The Art of War. While WWI is not my thing, this song is about the Battle of Passchendaele.
As for the battle itself...
Battle of Passchendaele, also called Third Battle of Ypres, (July 31–November 6, 1917), World War I battle that served as a vivid symbol of the mud, madness, and senseless slaughter of the Western Front. The third and longest battle to take place at the Belgian city of Ypres, Passchendaele was ostensibly an Allied victory, but it was achieved at enormous cost for a piece of ground that would be vacated the following year. [Ref. Encyclopedia Britanica.]
As for the tour... Sabaton announce The Tour To End All Tours for 2022. It will include The Hu (the Mongolian Metal band that everyone was going crazy over a year or 2 ago.) 26 cities have been scheduled starting in March of 2022, though I don't think they will be coming to North America.
Sabaton is a European Heavy Metal band that writes songs about history. It took me a while to warm up to them, but they are excellent musicians. They released some new music recently, and I do like it.
This song is "Templars" by Sabaton. It was released as a single to all (or most) the various music services on Friday, the 25th of April. The embedded video below is the "official video." I usually find these distracting, so I have not seen it.
Sabaton, a Heavy Metal band with a thing for songs dealing with historical events, have released a song just in time for the holidays. The song commemorates the Christmas Truce of 1914 during the First World War, during which a spontaneous cease fire broke out December 24th through the 26th on the Western Front.
And today we’re all brothers
Tonight we’re all friends
A moment of peace in a war that never ends
And so in the spirit of the holidays...
This song is "Christmas Truce" by Sabaton. It was just released as a single on October 28th. I think they have an album coming out soon, but as I type this I can't remember if they've announced a date/name for that album.
There is an official video, that is supposed to depict life in the trenches - though there is not enough mud everywhere. Like most official videos, I find it distracting. If you're interested it is easy enough to find. (A YT search will probably list it as your first choice.)
Since it is November 11th, I am going to violate a rule of the blog (they're more like guidelines, really) and have a Heavy Metal song on a Wednesday morning. Because it is Veterans Day, marking the end of WWI and it is a song about Alvin York, and what a guy from Tennessee did in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.
Sabaton is another Swedish Heavy Metal band. (They sing in English, don't worry.) Their songs are usually (always?) about historical events. When I first ran across them I didn't like what I heard, but I've come to like some of their work.
I ran across this song, or rather the cover by Amaranthe, when I was putting together the post on Alvin York for October 8th. But I really like this song in its original form. I hope you enjoy it as well. And if you know anyone who is in, or a veteran of 82nd Airborne, they might enjoy it too.
It's 82nd all the way
Death from above, what they now say
Lyrics are in the video, but here's a link, since I had it available. They may be singing in English, but it is Heavy Metal.
"Wolfpack" is a song by the Swedish Heavy Metal band Sabaton (don't worry, English lyrics) from their 2005 debut album, Primo Victoria. Sabaton has a thing for songs about historical events. I am slowly coming around to liking them. When I first tripped over them, years ago, I didn't care for what I heard. That is changing. Here are two songs I've featured before. Though the list will also include this post.
The version of the video includes scenes/cuts from the 2020 Tom Hanks movie, Greyhound. Both the song and the movie are about the same convoy crossing the North Atlantic during the early days of WWII. Though the events described in the movie, and maybe the song as well, are based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester. The action is heavily fictionalized.
Though it is supposed to be a decent movie. I haven't seen the movie, as I am giving NO money to Hollywood at this time. And that includes Apple TV. Or whatever. I suppose it's time to see if my library has it on DVD. The clips in the video look good.
Sabaton, the European Heavy Metal band that is obsessed with history, seems to be working up to a new album. They have released 2 new songs recently. Today we have one of them.
This is "Hordes of Khan" by Sabaton. It was released as a single on 6 June, though they released the official video that day. Today we have the lyric video, which I find less distracting.
They may have either released that album, or at least given us a date, but I have not looked that hard.
Today's song includes a large number of guest artists. Mille Petrozza (Kreator), Chuck Billy (Testament), the members of Sabaton, Warrel Dane (Nevermore, Sanctuary), Jeff Waters (Annihilator), Ross the Boss, Rolf "Rock'n'Rolf" Kasparek (Running Wild), the band DeTraktor, Doug Aldrich (Whitesnake, Dio, Dead Daisies), and Tommy Bolan (Warlock).
Why so many involved? The song (and the album) were dedicated to Lemmy of Motörhead, who had passed away a few years before the album was released.
Lemmy's birthday is December 24th, 1945. He passed away on December 28th, 2015.
Simo Häyhä - Sniper Central. He was born December 17, 1905, in the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was part of the Russian Empire. He died April 1, 2002 in Finland.
When the Soviet Union was formed, Finland was independent. (They had been part of the Russian Empire.) As you can imagine the Soviets didn't like that.
In 1939, the Soviet Union attempted to invade Finland. It was known as "The Winter War." It didn't go well for the USSR.
The Civil Guard was called up, and Häyhä was included in that.
Because Finland was such a small country that was being invaded by a much larger Soviet Union, everyone that was fit and able was willing to serve to defend their homeland regardless of their age and Simo was very fit and able. Simo was an avid hunter and farmer and was a member of their Civil Guard and already had his own issued M/28-30 bolt action rifle that he used through the entire Winter War conflict and no, it the rifle not have any optics. One of the common traits of a sniper is the ability to deliver long range precision fire, but in the very thick forests of eastern Finland, there were very few, if any, opportunities to engage targets beyond about 150 meters.
Häyhä used a Sako built M/28-30 rifle with iron sights. It weighed 9 and a half pounds. His confirmed kills are 542.
Because the entire conflict he fought in was only 3 months long, it took place entirely during the brutal Finnish winter time and in the snow. Often times Simo would pour water on the snow in front of his muzzle to cause the snow to ice up to prevent a plume of snow from being created by the muzzleblast when firing.
He was shot in the jaw, shortly before the ceasefire was signed. The pictures of Häyhä that you usually see are from after the war and include the damage done to his jaw, and face.
Sabaton is a Swedish Heavy Metal band. (English lyrics!) They have a thing for historically-themed songs. The have a song, "White Death" which I can't decide if I like or not. But I include it here for you to decide. About those lyrics; they may be in English, but it is Heavy Metal. You can find the lyrics at this link.
You're in the bullets way
The White Death's prey
Say goodbye!
In 1939 the Soviet Union invaded Finland. I think it was in December, but I would have to check. Finland objected. It was known as the Winter War, because it only lasted a few months. Simo Häyhä was a farmer in the Finland reserves. Basically their version of the national guard. The video below recounts his story.
I have had at least one post on Simo Häyhä. This post contains some of the same data in the video, and a link to the Sabaton song "The White Death," which is pretty good. The White Death - The Deadliest Sniper in History
In an impassioned social media post headed “Dear people, I am leaving Nightwish and my public life”, Hietala announced that he had come to his decision in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic after becoming “disillusioned” with the music industry.
Not only had he done some great work with Nightwish, he had also done a lot of collaborations with Charlotte Wessels (formerly of Delain), and Floor Jansen (formerly of After Forever), and others I can't think of right now.
I hope he finds whatever he is looking for. He hints that he is not going to be gone forever. I certainly hope not.
The photo above is of Marko Hietala in 2013 at Tuska Open Air, via WikiMedia Commons. (Click for more info.) His hair is more grey/white today, making him look a bit like Gandalf.
And Marco versus Marko. His name is officially Marko. It has been listed in the music press and on albums as Marco since before he joined Nightwish 20 years ago. I'm not sure why he is now trying to correct that, but I can go along with that...
The performance is not perfect. At some points in the song you can tell that Charlotte Wessels is tired, and can't quite reach the full extent of her range. But that is the point of live performances; you get the chance of greatness, but that means abandoning the search for perfection. If you want the studio version, it is at this link.
The Masters of Rock is a big festival. 2017's lineup included Delain, Anneke van Giersbergen and VUUR, Sabaton, Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister), Lacuna Coil, and bunch more. The 2021 lineup includes Delain, Uriah Heep, Tarja, Battle Beast, Amaranthe, Dream Theatre, Within Temptation and more. Almost makes me want to brave large crowds, but no. (I have been avoiding large crowds for much longer than COVID has been a thing.)
