SABATON Joins Forces With POP EVIL Singer LEIGH KAKATY For New Version Of 'Templars'

Continuing a banner year, Swedish masters of heavy metal SABATON re-up their 2025 hit "Templars" with a brand-new version featuring Leigh Kakaty of platinum-certified, chart-topping rock powerhouse POP EVIL. The song is now available on all DSPs and digital download providers via Better Noise Music. It's a collision of two different genres of hard rock that feels completely seamless.

Yesterday, SABATON welcomed POP EVIL frontman Leigh Kakaty to the stage during their set at Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky. Surprising tens of thousands of fans, they debuted this version together, leading to one of the standout moments of the massive fest. Kakaty infuses the track with a rush of fresh energy and fire. Between blasts of distortion and thunderous drums, his soaring vocals take flight. All of this momentum culminates on the chantable chorus: "Templars on the march, charge from the temple."

Regarding the new version, SABATON vocalist Joakim Brodén says: "'Templars' was a hit with our fans when we dropped it last year to introduce our eleventh studio album, 'Legends'. This year, we wanted to do something a little different with it, and teaming up with our North American tourmates POP EVIL just made perfect sense. Having a fantastic vocalist put his own stamp on the track adds a whole new layer and gives the song a fresh energy that we're really excited for everyone to hear. It's also a great way to get everyone fired up for our upcoming tour in North America. It's going to be a blast touring with POP EVIL, and we hope our fans enjoy this new take on the song."

SABATON bassist Pär Sundström added: "We've always enjoyed finding new ways to revisit our music, and 'Templars' felt like the perfect song to experiment with. When the opportunity came to collaborate with POP EVIL due to them joining us on our upcoming North American tour, it was an easy decision. Leigh's take on the track brings a different attitude. It's exciting to see one of our songs evolve like this."

Kakaty said: "When SABATON approached me about contributing to 'Templars', I was immediately intrigued. I've always appreciated the band's ability to bring history to life and this song stood to that power. The track gave us the opportunity to explore loyalty, purpose, and the challenges that come with standing by what you believe in. 'Templars' captures the triumph and diversity — the kind of energy and emotion that we all look for in music. Collaborating on a song with such strong storytelling was a real privilege. Heading out on tour together in the fall makes the track feel even more special for me."

The new single arrives on the heels of "Yamato", in which SABATON partnered with the popular online video game "World Of Warships" and its developer Wargaming. Since its release in March, the single continues to buzz with north of 7.5 million Spotify streams, while the music video has tallied 4.6 million views alone, landing looks at Blabbermouth, Metal Injection, NME and more. Meanwhile, Louder raved, "'Yamato' is yet another stirring, oh-so-epic tune to be added to their arsenal."

The band had previously partnered with World Of Warships and Wargaming for "Bismarck" in 2019. Among the most popular tunes in SABATON's catalog, the latter has garnered more than 124 million Spotify streams to date, while the gripping music video has tallied over 111 million views and counting. Landing plugs from Metal Insider, Blabbermouth, Ghost Cult magazine and more, Revolver magazine praised, "SABATON has made a career by writing kickass hooks about extremely specific moments of military history, and between Wargaming's world-class attention to detail and the band's artillery nerdom, this was a match made in heaven."

SABATON also dropped its latest full-length offering, "Legends", at the end of 2025. Beyond racking up nearly 200 million total streams, it incited the applause of Kerrang! who rated it 4/5 and raved, "SABATON do one thing, and after 11 albums there doesn't appear to be an off switch. But by Odin, they do that one thing better than anyone else." Louder marveled at how "it does stretch their battlefield into something closer to a cinematic universe, with them still marching at the front of power metal's ranks."

SABATON will embark on the "Legends On Tour" trek across North America this month. The tour kicks off on September 23 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and wraps on December 12 in Fort Lauderdale. POP EVIL and WINGS OF STEEL will serve as support. The band will also bring "The Legendary Tour Part 2" to Europe in April 2027, following the huge success of the first tour that saw them sell out enormous shows at London's O2 Arena and Manchester's Co-op Live.