The pride of Europe’s historical heavy metal genre, Sabaton, performed live at The Complex in Salt Lake City, a stop on their “Tour to End all Tours”, where the band will play in cities all around the world..
They were met by fans in Salt Lake City on Sep. 27 with what they claimed to be their “loudest crowd” of the tour. Sabaton is a heavy metal band from Sweden with a discography inspired by historical battles and military history from around the world. One such song is “To Hell and Back,” their top-rated song on Spotify, is about the most decorated soldier in U.S. history, Audie Murphy.
With strong power chords and deep vocals from vocalist Joakim Brodén, the group prides itself on being hard to brand, as their bio reads.
“The band refuses to be simply slotted into a genre,” Sabaton’s bio states. “Fans need only know them as Sabaton: the heavy metal band that sings of real-life wars and the people who played a part in them.”
To say that Sabaton knows how to put on a good show would be a dramatic understatement. After introducing the band with a historical opener talking about America’s large contribution to World War I, the group dazzled fans with some of their biggest hits like “Carolus Rex”, “Primo Victoria”, “Bismarck”, “The Attack of the Dead Men”, “Night Witches”, “Christmas Truce”, “To Hell and Back”, and many others. Along with an entertaining and welcoming stage manner, the relationship between the band members and fans was heartwarming.
It is sometimes said that bands are not as good in person as they are with their studio-recorded music–this cannot be said about Sabaton. The ‘would-be metal fan’ will find that what they hear in their playlists is exactly what they get on stage, and perhaps even better.
“The concert was great and a lot of fun if you’re into heavy metal,” said Matthew Kahn-Grant, a student at UVU studying political science who was in attendance at the show. “What initially drew me to Sabaton was finding ‘Primo Victoria’ on YouTube, and the song “Devil Dogs” because of both my family’s connection to the military.”
Anyone wishing to get introduced to heavy metal will not be disappointed with Sabaton and their historical approach to the genre. Through their music and storytelling, the listener will find that not only will they have found a new favorite band, but also an outlet for learning along the way.
Epica, a Dutch symphonic metal band, was the show opener, and was traveling with Sabaton on their tour. Epica found many friends among the crowd, and their performance and music was familiar to fans of Sabaton with themes of social issues as well as a touch of dark vocals.
More information about Sabaton and their tour dates, can be found on their website.
