Sabaton

Sabaton's songs rarely stray far from the battlefield. The Swedish power metal band from Falun was formed in December 1999, and the vast majority of its material deals with historical events, chiefly wars and significant battles. Joakim Brodén and Pär Sundström are the only members to have remained through a run of lineup changes, which gives the group a settled core around its historical focus.

Their route to a settled catalogue was not straight. Metalizer, recorded in 2002, was abandoned after two years of waiting, and the group's second album, Primo Victoria, arrived in 2005; its title track, Brodén has said, kicked off the historical theme. The Art of War (2008), inspired by Sun Tzu's book, produced the singles "Cliffs of Gallipoli" and "Ghost Division", while Coat of Arms (2010) concentrated on World War II, including the Winter War. Heroes topped the official Swedish album chart in 2014, and The Last Stand, released in 2016, was preceded by the single "The Lost Battalion". Sabaton now has eleven studio albums, four live albums, five live DVDs and thirty music videos to its name.