Sabaton - 40:1

Ah Sabaton, I have learned so much about military history thanks to thee. Do you think when Joakim Broden and Par Sundstrom started Sabaton back in 1999 they knew they would end up being educators almost as much as they are metal musicians? It is possible that was the intention all along. Needless to say, I have learned a lot by listening to Sabaton; I suspect a lot of people have.

After twenty years of educating the metal masses about military history, what is the logical next step? Sabaton did something intelligent, they started their own history channel on youtube.com, simply called “Sabaton History”.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaG4CBbZih6nLzD08bTBGfw

The formula for the series is they take a Sabaton song and discuss it in two parts; first historian Indy Neidell talks about the historical event depicted in the Sabaton song, then Sabaton member, will talk about the song’s history. This is brilliant. Exactly what we all needed.

Now, I have good working knowledge of European history, better then most, but inferior to any actual historian, but even before Sabaton started taking me to school, I did know that Poland was a warrior nation. In the education system I grew up with, Poland mostly gets talked about as a prime victim of warfare, sandwiched between Germany and Russia, two mega powers vying for control of Polish land. The Warsaw patch being the start of World War Two gets a fair amount of attention, and that is pretty much it. So not everyone realizes how much worse it really was for Poland. The Pols have seen war more, or less, nonstop; not just battles the Germans and Russians, but also the Austrians and the Swedish and probably everyone else in the region. The resilience of the Polish people is truly incredible, and the fact that Poland even exists as a country is testament to that.

So, I knew a little bit about Poland’s military history, naturally I know a lot more now since listening to Sabaton. For example, I knew the Polish forces put up a good fight against the Nazis, but were ultimately overwhelmed, but I did not know to what extent. I did not know any of the major battles, so when I first heard “40:1” I was not caught off guard by the history lesson. Nonetheless, I still learned a lot.

It just so happens the first episode on “Sabaton History” is about “40:1.”

I have linked the video so there is no need for me to recap everything Indy and Par tell us, but here is a quick summary.

The real-life event that is the story for “40:1” is the Battle of Wizna. While the actual numbers of the soldiers in the battle are unknown, Polish folklore holds the ratio to be something in the range of forty to one in their disfavor. Making matters force, the German’s were attacking with more then three hundred panzer tanks and the Polish soldiers had no anti-tank weaponry. Yet somehow, they managed to drag the fighting out for three days. This battle is sometimes referred to as the Polish Thermopylae.

This comparison to the three hundred Spartans is included in Sabaton’s “40:1” chorus:

“Baptized in fire,
Forty to one.
Spirit of Spartans,
Death and glory.
Soldiers of Poland,
Second to none.”

The history of the song “40:1” is also interesting. Initially Sabaton was not overly popular in Poland, but a song like “40:1” would logically strike a chord with Polish fans. How things played out was through a fan made youtube video. This fan made music video included scenes from one of more war movies, presumably depicting Polish soldiers defending their country. Copyright strikes caused the video to be taken down, but it was too late, it had gone viral in Poland, and was reuploaded over and over, spreading “40:1.”

Long story short, Polish metal fans now love Sabaton, Sabaton have to play “40:1” at every Polish concert, and the Archbishop showed up to gift Sabaton a sword.

As I type this out, I have only watched the first two Sabaton History videos, so I got some homework. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and listen to some Sabaton, not only are they one of the best metal bands in the world right now, but you will learn a bunch of history. History is important, we should always remember.

“Always remember, a fallen soldier,
Always remember, fathers and sons at war.
Always remember, a fallen soldier,
Always remember, buried in history.”

- King of Braves

Sabaton - Shiroyama

“Encircled by a vulture,
The end of ancient culture,
The dawn of destiny draws near.”

Speaking of new albums in 2016, Sabaton released their eighth studio album titled “The Last Stand.”

I have discussed Sabaton twice before and they are likely to become a mainstay on this blog since they are one of the most exciting active bands I have discovered in recent years. Sabaton’s whole thing is that they are a metal band and all their songs are about European military history. Seriously I learned a lot about the rise and fall of the Swedish empire and many major battles in world war two just by listening to these guys. It is like I am getting an education while rocking out, which is pretty ideal.

Sabaton’s latest work is, more or less, the same sort of thing we have seen before, more badass metal songs about military history, the only notable slight difference is that there appears to be a theme of finality, the end of something, many of the battles presented in music form on “The Last Stand” are exactly just that, a last stand, a final conclusion to things.

The song “Sparta” is about the battle of Thermopylae, the hot gates, where famously three hundred Spartan warriors held off a Persian invasion that outnumber them absurdly for an absurdly long time, resulting in the death of every Spartan hoplite. While this was far from the end of the Sparta city state or their military presence in Peloponnesian peninsula, it was certainly one of the most epic ends to a military campaign and the lives of those who fought in history of all warfare.

The title track “The Last Stand” is about the Pope Clement the seventh’s Swiss guard defending his escape from the Hasburg Spain attack. The Swiss Guard was thoroughly annihilated and ceased to exist for a long time until the Hasburg occupation ceased, so this was literally the last stand of the Holy See’s military guard.

Lastly, we have “Shiroyama” which is understandably about the battle Shiroyama, the final battle in the Satsuma Rebellion. As Sabaton points out, this is the last stand of the samurai, and in many ways, I feel this song better captures the spirit of the album “The Last Stand” than even the title track of the same name. Spartans would bounce back from the loss of three hundred men and arguably win the war against their Athenian rivals. The Swiss Guard exist today, so while temporarily removed from activity the Swiss Guard did recover. Samurais however are no more, and Shiroyama was the last time the way of the samurai would have any meaningful military or political significance. Of the three songs I have pointed too only once depicts the literal final end of a military body and way of life, “Shiroyama” is a song that literally is about the last stand of samurais in all human history.

“Shiroyama” is my favorite song from the new album. It helps that I love Samurais. I made it an issue to see as many castles as I could when I visited Japan. Also I made a day trip to Kitakyushu and Ganryujima where the famous duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro took place. It also helps that “Shiroyama” has one of the catchiest guitar rifts in all Sabaton’s playlist. “Shiroyama” stands out as one of Sabaton’s best songs to date and that is saying a lot given how strongly I feel about their previous albums “Charlos Rex,” “Coat of Arms,” and “The Art of War.”

One cannot do a review of a Sabaton song without a history lesson so here it is.

The Satsuma Rebellion was fought between the newly established Empire of Japan and the Satsuma Domain.

The Empire of Japan came from the Meiji Restoration/Renovation/Revolution/Reform/Renewal, or whatever we decide to call it, where Emperor Meiji was restored as the emperor of Japan but more importantly, at least for this conversation, the Empire of Japan ushered in the technological advancement in both industry and military. The Empire of Japan would lead Japan to becoming a world power and transformed itself in 1947 into the modern Japanese federal government that we know today.

The Satsuma Domain was one of the most powerful feudal domains in the Tokugawa Japan and among the wealthiest throughout the Edo period. Unsurprisingly they remained a classical samurai culture and were hugely disenfranchised by the rapid changes in the politics and culture of Japan’s primary ruling forces. The rebellion spawned from a resistance to these changes as well as a shift in power dynamics. It is difficult, or impossible, for the old ways to survive in the face of change, especially when that change represents technological and military advancement; or how Sabaton puts it:

“It's the nature of time,
That the old ways must give in.
It's the nature of time,
that the new ways come in sin.

When the new meets the old.
It always ends the ancient ways,
And as history told,
The old ways go out in a blaze.”

It was not just military supremacy of the Empire of Japan that resulted in their unavoidable eventual victory over Satsuma Samurais, but also the power of numbers. The old ways were dying out, and there grew to be less and less people living in Japan who held on to the traditions of the Samurai by the time the Satsuma Rebellion transpired. They were impossibly outnumbered as well as brutally out armed.

“Imperial force defied,
Facing 500 samurai.
Surrounded and outnumbered,
60 to 1 the sword face the gun.
Bushido dignified,
It's the last stand of the samurai,
surrounded and outnumbered.”

Saigo Takamori.  Leader of the
Satsuma Rebellion.
Argubably the last samurai.

Given the basic common knowledge we all possess of Samurais it should come as no surprise that the Satsuma soldiers elected to fight to the death instead of surrendering. Their leader Saigo Takamori suffered a bullet wound and escape to either die from the injury or was killed by his own men who then buried his head elsewhere so the enemy would not find it; all of this done to preserve their leader’s honour. Then the forty remaining samurai drew their sword and refusing to surrender die in battle.

"An offer of surrender,
Saigo ignore contender,
The dawn of destiny is here."

The wind of change is an unstoppable juggernaut and will not be denied. It is easy to point to the guns and cannons as the deciding factor in the demise of the samurai, and the failed Satsuma Rebellion, for how could they possibly combat such a superior fighting force? However the Satsuma samurais were also in use of some canons and guns, the change of face of combat and war had already affected all serious fighting forces on the islands of Japan, and indeed everywhere. It was always just a matter of time before the sword was replaced with the gun.

War will forever be a dark yet glorious subject, however in the conversation of the battle of Shiroyama there is an added level of tragedy. The bravery and extreme devotion to their warrior’s code of honour is inspiring and everything about that way of life was wiped out in this fateful battle in Kagoshima. It is very tragic, but then again, all war is.

- King of Braves

Sabaton - Poltava

The first song by Sabaton I ever heard was “Poltava” and it remains my favourite. In fact the entire album “Carolus Rex” is one of the albums I have enjoyed the most in recent memory.

War is an exciting topic; I needlessly elaborated this fact on my review of Sabaton’s “White Death.”

http://colinkellymusicinreview.blogspot.ca/2014/06/sabaton-white-death.html

It is should be unnecessary for me to explain how and why war is so exciting. It is the ultimate eclipse of death and violence, and thus the ultimate horror to civilization and tragically the greatest test of heroism any warrior could embark on. With this combination of emotions that go with war there is a vast open avenue for artistic expression. Contradicting emotions can easily be invoked when depicting war in art; fear and courage, glory and shame, hate and admiration. For the Swedes the battle of Poltava was a disaster, and Sabaton has created a song that aggressively describes this nightmare, that is both energetic and sorrowful, both courageous and terrifying.

The battle of Poltava was fought between the Swedish empire led by Carolus Rex and the Russian empire lead by Peter the Great. Poltava is modern day Ukraine, and this final battle was the end of expansion of the Swedish empire and defeat was so brutal that it marked the end of Sweden being a major power in Europe and the beginning of Russia’s presence as a one.

The song “Poltava” is epic in its delivery. Everything about it is perfect for a metal song. It has a fantastic heavy rhythm section. The guitar work is fast and skillful. The structure feels forceful and deadly, like war. Though the strongest feeling provoked is the intensity of combat and somehow there is also room for the bitterness and sadness for the Swedes, making “Poltava” both a badass song to rock out to and a heart full ballad about the soldiers who bleed the ground red and the eventual downfall of the mighty expanded Swedish empire of Carolus Rex. Basically it is a perfect song for what it is trying to be, but more than that, “Carolus Rex” the album, is basically a perfect album for what it is trying to be.

"The Lion of the North"
Gustavus Adolphus

The album “Carolus Rex” is a metal musical detailing the rise and fall of the Swedish empire. It starts with songs like “The Lion From The North” introducing Gustavus Adolphus who is credited for turning Sweden into a great power by leading Sweden to victory through the Thirty Years War, and is often considered one of the greatest military commanders of all time. Before his death in 1632 Gustavus he managed to make Sweden the third largest empire in Europe, after only Russia and Spain.

“Gott Mit Uns” (god with us) is about the Battle of Breitenfeld which was the first major victory the Protestants had against the Catholics in the Thirty Year War, and also solidified Sweden’s involvement in the war for the coming years. Evidently the Protestant Swedes and Prussians believed god to be on their side.

My second favorite song on the album has to be “A Lifetime Of War” describing the misery caused by the Thirty Years’ War. I really like the line,

“When all of Europe is burning what can be done?
They've been to war a decade two more to come.”

Carolus Rex (King Charles)

Then Carolus Rex is introduced with the title track. Born 1682, Carolus came to power at age fifteen and immediately war was thrust upon him when the king of Denmark-Norway declared war. Carolus was able to defeat his enemies in Norway and Zealand and force a peace between them. The same day peace with Denmark-Norway was made Russia declared war on Sweden and a grim series of battles began like the battle of Fraustadt depicted in the in "Killing Ground" and ultimately the song of the hour "Poltava."

The album ends with two sorrowful songs "Long Live The King" a song describing the funeral march for Carolus Rex which understandably is very sad for the Swedes, presumably including the ones in the band Sabaton. Carolus was wounded in the battle of Poltava or as Joakim Broden put it:

"Russian armies blocked their way,
Twenty thousand lost that day,
They bled the ground,
Peace they found.
There's no sign of victory.
King Carolus had to flee.
And leave the land,
Leave Command."

As the ruined remains of the escaped Swedish forces fled back to Sweden Carolus died from his injuries.

"Bringing Home the Body of Charles XII" by Gustaf Cederstrom

Lastly we have "Ruina Imperii" the fall of the empire, which is the final salute on the album "Carolus Rex."

Needless to say I learned a lot about the Swedish empire and the thirty years war from listening to "Carolus Rex." We do not cover the various empires that rose and fell in Europe after Rome in Canada's education system and it was very interesting to put a lot of important events and rulers to these moments in history. What better way to learn about history then through badass metal? I have literally received an educational lecture by listening to Sabaton as if I needed any additional reasons to like them. This is one of the great charms that Sabaton possesses, if Blind Guardian’s discography is like a metal library of fantasy and fiction then Sabaton is a metal history encyclopedia on the most exciting topic of all, war.

- King of Braves

Sabaton - White Death

On May 10th of this year, Sabaton came to Calgary Alberta. I was super excited to see them. I had picked up most of their CDs and I really enjoyed everything about them, especially the fact that almost all their songs are inspired by European military history. They were the second band in a show of three. The opening act before Sabaton was Revamp, a nice surprise goth metal band from the Netherlands whose lead singer, Floor Jansen, is the currently lead singer for Nightwish, which is something I probably should have known ahead of time, but I did not. The main attraction was Iced Earth, a band I am still learning about.

On an unimportant side note, on Revamp’s North American Tour Diary Part 6, if you watch closely you can see me in it. Neat.

When Sabaton hit the small stage in the Republik nightclub and bar, something special happened; we the people of Calgary went nuts. Chants of “Sabaton! Sabaton! Sabaton!” ripped through crowd, we cheered louder for Sabaton then we would for Iced Earth later that night, at least I think we did. We were so loud and riled up we managed to surprise lead singer Joakim Brodén and he said;

“Calgary. This is very unusual. We’ve never been here before. This kind of ovation is unexpected.”

Later he joked as we continued to cheer;

“Wow. I’m feeling a little bit of a love hate thing going on here. I mean you all seem really nice, but what the hell happened at the Olympics? You guys raped us in the gold medal match. Every time Canada beats Sweden in hockey we will remove one song from our playlist.”

Thankfully he was just joking and we were treated to the full set.

Sabaton's front man Joakim Broden

Joakim Brodén proved to be a very good front man, the man has great energy and personality and he fed off our energy as we fed off of his. Also I like the fake body armor, Mohawk, goatee, shades combination, he makes it work.

It was a great show and I feel very confident Sabaton will return one day. Calgary made them feel welcome, and I am very happy I got to be a part of that.

The three biggest reasons I believe Sabaton will succeed on the global stage of metal are, great sound, great look, and great theme. The sound speaks for its self, solid drums with smooth rhythm and melody make every song of theirs jump out at you; they are very energetic and exciting all the time. Their look is simple, they wear greyscale camouflage, but they are distinct, they are easy to point out and that helps casual listeners remember who they are. Last the vastness of military history offers a nearly endless supply of stories and inspiration to draw upon for creating music, and military history is extremely interesting and exciting. It is a theme everyone from every country has some cultural connection with and war is something most metal fans have at least a passing interest in. After all what is more metal than war?

When creating metal music about famous battles and heroes through Europe’s dense military history it makes sense to write at least one song about the greatest soldier in all modern military history, I of course am speaking of Simo Häyhä. I am sure some people will argue that someone other than Simo Häyhä is the greatest military solider ever, but it’s hard to imagine a better candidate than the Finnish sniper.

Simo Hayha.  Getting shot
in the face is no big deal.

The Winter War began in 1939 when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. As Russians poured across the Finnish boarder they were brutally dispatch by a lone sniper. Dressed all in white and using a white guard M/28 rifle, Simo managed to hide in snow drifts and trees and shoot down Russians as they came the border. By the end of the war Simo had managed to rack up over five hundred confirmed kills, and as if that was not impressive enough he managed to do it in minus forty degree weather and over the course of merely one hundred days. This means Simo managed to kill an average of five or more men a day for a hundred days straight with an outdated rifle. After one hundred days of being slaughtered by one man some Russian finally got lucky and managed to shoot Simo in the face with a stray shot. Just to prove how badass Simo was he survived and lived to the ripe old age of ninety-six.

For his accomplishments in slaughtering Russians in the Winter War, Simo Häyhä was dubbed The White Death. Sabaton naturally wrote a song about him of the same name.

“You are in the sniper's sight,
The first kill tonight,
Time to die!
You are in the bullet's way,
The White Death's prey,
Say goodbye!”

This chorus is perfect. It is intense, powerful and deadly. The White Death is described almost like a force of nature, dispatching people so easily as if they were just thing to discard and happened just in the way. As civilized human beings we often shy away from the embraces of war, and as a generation that has never known true war we tend to demonize any acts of violence altogether, but somewhere deep inside us, all of us, we know there is something very exciting about violence and combat. The fear of death and the glory of triumph dwell in us all. A fast paced metal song about history’s greatest sniper can really get the blood flowing, and like so many Sabaton songs “White Death” has fantastic energy.

What better way to honour the White Death, Simo Häyhä?

I am calling it now. Sabaton will be a huge international success very soon, or maybe they already are and I just don’t know it.

- King of Braves

Metal's new bad asses.