History + Rock Music = Sabaton

Over the years, I’ve sometimes thought how great it would be to hear history set to music.

Liam’s had that same thought as his interest in history has grown, thanks to the ‘Fate’ franchise, wishing there was a rock band whose music covered historical stuff.

While scrolling through the comments on a channel he’s subscribed to on YouTube, he noticed a band mentioned whom he’s never heard of and neither have I.

He looked them up and found what we’ve been looking for!

Sabaton is a heavy metal band from Sweden and has been around since 1999.

Sabaton at Hellfest, France 2017 (Image by Selbymay on Wikipedia)

Of the original members, only 2 are in the current line-up – the lead vocalist, Joakim Brodén, who also plays guitar and keyboard, and the bassist, Pär Sundström.

Chris Rörland, on guitars, and the drummer, Hannes van Dahl, joined in 2012; the other guitarist, Tommy Johansson joined in 2016.

The band’s name refers to a knight’s foot armour, called sabaton. Fittingly, their songs are based on war, historical battles and heroic deeds of men, women and armies.

Sabaton from The Wallace Collection (Image by Johnobod on Wikipedia)

The lyrics, which tell historical stories, are a perfect match to the style of music.

Their website not only has the lyrics, but there’s also snippets of information explaining the historical event the piece is based on.

I haven’t listened to all their music yet as I don’t want to rush it but really savour each one, knowing it’s based on actual events.

It’s not easy choosing one to include in this post, but I’ll go with ‘Sparta’; this particular YouTube channel, ‘Knight SGC Archive’ skilfully marries visuals to Sabaton’s music.

What a fun way to expand my historical knowledge.