SABATON's 'Carolus Rex' Certified Platinum In Sweden

"Carolus Rex", the latest album from Swedish metallers SABATON, has been certified platinum in Sweden for sales in excess of 40,000 copies. This marks the first time a Swedish heavy metal band has achieved this milestone in its home country. (Note: The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry [IFPI] in Sweden has revised the sales requirements for albums to reach platinum status in the country three times in the last 17 years — from the pre-1996 level of 100,000 to the current 40,000.)

"This is unbelievable," says SABATON bassist Pär Sundström. "I'm taken [aback] and have trouble finding the words. It's a milestone in our career and shows that everything we ever stood and fought for has been feasible. This has hardly been a bed of roses, but acknowledgement like this means that we can get through anything."

SABATON's 2012 "Swedish Empire Tour" was one of the greatest jaunts ever undertaken by a heavy rock band in Sweden. It was part of a two-year-long world tour that will see the band play in excess of 200 gigs in all parts of the globe. It will include two upcoming Swedish shows with IRON MAIDEN (at Malmö Stadium and the newly built 50,000-plus-capacity Friends Arena in Stockholm) and additional dates with IRON MAIDEN before the trek wraps in the U.S. this fall.??

In other news, SABATON has announced that, as a treat to its loyal fan base, it will perform its entire 2008 album, "The Art Of War", which helped break the band outside of Sweden, during SABATON's headlining concert at its own festival, Sabaton Open Air, in Falun in August. And to cap off an amazing 2013, SABATON will release a concert DVD in late autumn featuring footage of the band's 2012 performance at the Przystanek Woodstock festival, where they played in front of over 600,000 people. After this, the band will return to the studio during the winter months to start working on the follow-up to "Carolus Rex".??

"Carolus Rex" was released on May 22, 2012 via Nuclear Blast Records. The lyrics for the CD, which was made available in both English and Swedish, deal with the Swedish Empire (referring to the Kingdom of Sweden between 1561 and 1721).

The band previously stated about "Carolus Rex": "For the first time ever we have had an expert to help us out with the theme, the well-known Swedish historian Bengt Liljegren. We have also added some extra time in the studio to find the absolute right sound on 'Carolus Rex', and our producer, Peter Tägtgren, says that this album will mark a brand new standard for how a heavy metal album should sound like!"

Liljegren's published works include acclaimed biographies of Adolf Hitler and Karl XII. He also appeared in the popular Swedish TV series "Boston Tea Party".

SABATON last year parted ways with guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, drummer Daniel Mulback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr.