SABATON Used 'Sounds Of War' Instead Of Real Drums In 'The Lost Battalion' Song

“The Last Stand”, the eighth studio album from Swedish metallers SABATON, was released on August 19 via Nuclear Blast. The follow-up to 2014’s “Heroes” was once again produced by Peter Tägtgren (PAIN, LINDEMANN, HYPOCRISY) and it “marks a brand new chapter in SABATON history,” according to a press release.

In a newly released clip below, SABATON bassist Pär Sundström and vocalist Joakim Brodén discuss sampling guns for drums on the track “The Lost Battalion”.

Brodén said: “It’s a bit of a strange thing. Instead of drums, we decided to build the rhythm section out of sounds of war. What you perceive as a kick drum is actually a .50-caliber machine gun. The snare drum, or what is perceived as a snare drum, would be a 9-milimeter handgun. And the hi-hat is a bayonet.”

He added: “To a certain extent, we tried to keep it as historically correct as possible. So if we’re ever doing an intro, or an outro, we like to make sure it was a gun that was used at that time in the battle.”

Sundström previously stated about “The Last Stand”: “We once again worked with Peter Tägtgren in his newly upgraded and top-class Abyss studio in Sweden to record, produce and mix the album. The mastering [was] done by Jonas Kjellgren who also works in the same building in nice Pärlby on the countryside of Sweden. Both ‘Carolus Rex’ and ‘Heroes’ were done in the same way and we [felt] very comfortable to return to the same place and people again. Fans will recognize the sound of the album as SABATON, but we really feel we took it a step forward this time.”

The artwork for “The Last Stand” was created by Peter Sallaí, who has worked with SABATON since “Carolus Rex”. Sundström explained: “We had the idea to make an image reflecting soldiers of different times representing the different historical battles we sing about on the new album. This only reveals a small part of the album topics though.”

Stated Brodén: “The concept of a last stand has always fascinated me, and both me and Pär were ‘all in excited’ about the subject so it was an easy choice to make.”

Added Sundström: “We have always several ideas for albums to work with. Since there are countless different views and angles of war, we will, unfortunately, never run out of ideas. We kinda felt that the last stand was something perfect for SABATON. Something we really wanted to do. ‘Heroes’ was a perfect theme and ‘The Last Stand’ is right down our alley too. It was exciting to do the research.”

“The Last Stand” was made available in the following editions:

– CD+DVD-Digi (including a concert DVD)
– CD
– Box (including earbook, 2LP Pic, 12″ photo card, 12″ poster, three plectra)
– 2LP (black, clear, gold, yellow/blue)
– Special edition (SABATON tank + box)
– Digital

“The Last Stand” track listing:

CD+DVD-Digi

01. Sparta
02. Last Dying Breath
03. Blood Of Bannockburn
04. Diary Of An Unknown Soldier
05. The Lost Battalion
06. Rorke’s Drift
07. The Last Stand
08. Hill 3234
09. Shiroyama
10. Winged Hussars
11. The Last Battle

Bonus:

12. Camouflage
13. All Guns Blazing

DVD – Live @ Stereolux, Nantes (France)

01. Intro (The March To War)
02. Ghost Division
03. Far From The Fame
04. Uprising
05. Midway
06. Gott Mit Uns
07. Resist And Bite
08. Wolfpack
09. Dominium Maris Baltici
10. Carolus Rex
11. Swedish Pagans
12. Soldier Of 3 Armies
13. Attero Dominatus
14. The Art Of War
15. Wind Of Change
16. To Hell And Back
17. Night Witches
18. Primo Victoria
19. Metal Crüe