Sabaton is a Swedish power metal band known for a couple things; power metal, military history, and the ownership of two tanks. Recently Sabaton released a new album, Legends, which dives into the history of many figures.
Templars, the title being an allusion to the Knight’s Templar, a group formed around the time of the Crusades as a way to protect merchants and pilgrims. Unfortunately, under the Reign of King Phillip IV of France, the Templars were falsely accused of committing Blasphemy and eventually executed. The song embodies this situation quite well, with the tone being of desperation.
Hordes of Khan, a song that details the several invasions of Genghis Khan. During Khan’s time (1162 – 1227) he united the nomadic tribes of Mongolia together into one army under his control, he led several conquests all with great success creating the largest land empire in history.
The name of the song is derived from the sheer force Khan had with his rule, his tactics are embodied in the lyrics, his tactics were to conquer, assimilate, and grow his forces larger and larger, wanting to rule the world.
The band takes a dive into Chinese history with their song, A Tiger Among Dragons and the story of Lü Bu. Starting as a lower tier warlord, Lü Bu betrayed his commander and defected to a different commander, starting a trend of defection until he joined force with Yuan Shu. He was executed in 199 A.D. after enemy capture.
It was said he possessed the might of a tiger but he wasn’t coordinated or tactical enough. The song’s title is a reference to this fact and the song’s lyrics mainly dive into his rise to power among the other warlords who were far more equipped and established than him.
Crossing the Rubicon is in reference to Julius Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon. In January of 49 BCE Caesar led only a single Roman legion across the river, this was considered a breaking of the law of imperium.
The song reflects how drastic this action would be seen as, with lyrics like “he the man who caused it all” and direct quotes from Ceasar like “the die has been cast”. from the tactics to the power, and much more, the phrase “crossing the Rubicon” which means going past the point of no return.
I, Emperor, this piece dives into Napoleon Bonaparte’s rule as the first (and only )emperor of France and his conquest through Europe. His tactics showed similarly to Khan, he would also use many of his strategies, to varying degrees of success.
Many aspects of this song plays though from a first person point of view of Napoleon. The high notes are to represent his victories; but a very solemn part plays out the the centre-end of the song, it’s supposed to be indicative of his defeat at Waterloo which caused his empire to fall, ending the song with “Farewell my children, farewell.”
Maid of Steel describes the life of French martyr Joan of Arc.While she was a great and well respected military leader, she was unfortunately burned at the stake in 1431 due to her illegally dressing as a man to fight in the 100 years war.
Today, she is seen a feminist icon and a symbol of rebellion. The song reflects how Joan was able to shift the whole dynamic of the conflict with it’s a fast paced song with excellent lyrics.
Moving east in the world, the song Impaler explores the story of Vlad the Impaler, a hero in Romania due to his opposition to the Ottomans. In propaganda he was depicted as a vampire who drank blood, but in all reality he would brutally impale his enemies in revenge for his family. Vlad was the inspiration behind Bram Stocker’s 1897 gothic Horror novel, Dracula.
The song embodies a dark tone emphasizing Vlad’s vengeance, undoubtedly it embodies Vlad’s hate very well and is an excellently dark song.
Lightning at the Gates follows the story of Hannibal and his armies trek across the alps during the second punic war. The story goes that Hannibal led his campaign that contained men and animals, notably elephants, through a thought impassable route to surprise the Roman army.
The song has a very march-like tone as to indicate the march led by Hannibal and talks about his alliances with the local tribes, as well as his descent on Rome.
The Duelist dives into the life of the legendary Samurai Musashi Miyamoto. This 17th century samurai or ronin left a legacy of being undefeated in all 62 duels he had. Musashi was a master of the swords and an excellent tactician, later serving the shogunate army as a general After his life of combat he would retire and write the kenjutsu and martial arts text, Book of Five rings.
The song reflects his more rebellious nature of breaking away from the old traditions of sword fighting, with its highs and lows in the song that can be best described as metaphorical sword fight or a representation of Musashi’s life.
The Cycle of Songs, which’s name alludes to the “Cycle of Songs in Honor of Senusret III” tells the tale of Senusret III, Pharaoh of ancient Egypt. Senusret III brought great prosperity to the people of ancient Egypt with his policies, the growth in the economy, successful military campaigns, and his revival of craftsmanship.
The song’s tempo matches the rise of his power and his favourability in Egypt, it never falters and it never slows, it only goes up and up, the song is an excellent representation of Senusret III’s victorious rule.
The final song on the track is Till Seger, Swedish for “To Victory.” This song is the second in Sabaton’s discography that has not been translated to English, the other being Ruina Imperii and is about Gustavus Adolphus of the Swedish Empire. Gustavus’s rule brought great power to the Swedish empire, in many pieces of Swedish folklore he was regarded as a hero, with progressive policies of equality between nobility and commoners.
The song’s melody sounds very upbeat in comparison to the other songs on the album, opening with an organ playing almost ominously but then quickly changes tune to a victorious tone, making it a good final note for the album
This album is fairly well received and is excellent for anyone interested in history or metal or both. Words cannot really describe the album well, a good bit of advice would be to listen to it if one is interested.