SABATON
THE WAR WITHIN
Death, line-up changes and Covid have rocked Sabaton in recent years. And yet, ahead of new album The War To End All Wars, they’re somehow stronger than ever
WORDS: DAVE EVERLEY
PICTURES: TIM TRONCKOE
Sabaton had just kicked off a 17-date tour of Russia when nations began to fall around them. If this was a war movie, there would have been a map of the world behind them covered in red lights gradually blinking out one by one.
As it was, Sabaton’s bassist, Pär Sundström, was sitting in a hotel bar every night, glued to the news on his mobile phone. It was March 2020, and countries around the world were closing their borders as a contagious new virus named Covid-19 swept the globe. Yet here in Russia, life was carrying on as normal.
“The government had stated there was no virus in Russia, so if we’d gone home we’d have faced a shitload of costs,” says Pär. “We were landing in new cities and the airports were full of fans. Everybody was like, ‘Is this OK?’”
As the man who essentially manages Sabaton, Pär was the one people were coming to and asking what the hell was going on. There was little he could do except tell them that the tour had to go on. But, he added, any crew members who wanted to go home were free to go home on full salary. “And everybody stayed,” he says proudly.
They had played nine dates before the Russian authorities woke up to the seriousness of the situation, allowing the band to cancel the tour without financial penalty. But for Pär it had been a stressful time – and things wouldn’t get any easier in the months that followed.
“The past two years have been anything but good,” he says. “We’re seeing positive signs now, but we have also learned that things can still change even when they look positive.”
It’s late January 2022, and Pär is sitting in a Sabatonbranded gaming chair in his office in Cyprus. The shelves behind him contain everything from the recently released Sabaton board game to a Lego-style Sabaton model tank to a limited-edition Sabaton olive oil. It wouldn’t be remotely surprising if he’s wearing Sabaton underpants (yes, they exist).