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

August 22, 2016

"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

Earbook

CD:

Bonus:

12. Camouflage
13. All Guns Blazing
14. Afraid To Shoot Strangers

DVD - Live @ Stereolux, Nantes (France):

Live CD - Live @ Stereolux, Nantes (France)

2LP - 45 RPM

Side A:

01. Sparta
02. Last Dying Breath
03. Blood Of Bannockburn
04. Diary Of An Unknown Soldier
05. The Lost Battalion

Side B:

01. Rorke's Drift
02. The Last Stand
03. Hill 3234
04. Shiroyama

Side C:

01. Winged Hussars
02. The Last Battle

Side D (Bonus):

01. Camouflage
02. All Guns Blazing

sabatonthelaststandcd

Find more on Sabaton

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).