The Top 5 Darkest Sabaton Songs

Welcome to the end of November fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

I know I said in my last post that it was the end of content for this month, but this one popped into my head literally a few weeks ago. As I was listening to Sabaton (As I seem to do on a daily basis), I asked myself “Can a Power Metal band like these guys go dark?”. Upon going through their discography, I can say yes. This was a difficult list to make: Sabaton is not know for going into dark territory when it comes to their music, and finding candidates were difficult....but not impossible. Without further delay, here are what I consider to be the 5 darkest Sabaton songs in their entire career.

Quick Note: Got the corresponding albums with each song, in case you wanted to seek said albums out.

5) Reign Of Terror & Panzer Battalion (Primo Victoria)

To be perfectly honest, I was considering leaving these two off the list. Desert Storm & Iraqi Freedom aren’t necessarily dark or scary in the eyes of some, and in many ways seem comical when it comes to the history of warfare. So if these tracks aren’t really bleak, what is it that got them on here in the first place? The answer? Timing.

For anyone who’s a beginner or casual fan of Sabaton, Primo Victoria original came out on March the 15th, 2005 (With a re-release that came out in September of 2010). Over a decade since the start of Desert Storm, and just barely under 2 years since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. It seems eerily coincidental, and to date they’re still the most recent things that Sabaton has sung about history-wise. Again, the subject matter might not send chills up the spine, but the time of their release adds a pale aura to them.

4) Nuclear Attack (Attero Dominatus)

Hiroshima & Nagasaki. 2 names that are connected to one of the most powerful & horrific weapons ever developed by man. Since the end of World War 2, nuclear weapons haven’t been used due to their might, and because of the disturbing aftermath they’ve left on the history of warfare. Sabaton took this subject head on, and managed to crank out an incredible song. I would have put this higher on the list, if not for the fact that the music comes across as a little goofy. It’s not that it isn’t good, because it is. For me at least, it clashes with the serious nature of the subject matter. Maybe I’m complaining over nothing, maybe I’m not.

3) White Death (Coat Of Arms)

This won’t be the only time that I’ll be talking about songs off of Coat Of Arms. The first release of the 2010s, it held within it a host of incredible stories. Case in point is the tale of Simo "Simuna" Häyhä, or as he was known by his nickname, White Death. During the Winter War between Finland & the Soviet Union, it was reported that Simo had an estimated kill count of 505 Russian solders (Kills gained by his M/28-30 Rifle & Suomi KP/-31 SMG). That’s morbidly impressive if you ask me. What makes this song so dark is not just the kill count, but how cold Simo was when asked about this. In a interview in 1998, he simply answered “Practice”, and when questioned if he regretted killing so many, he replied “I only did my duty, and what I was told to do, as well as I could”. Those replies are equal parts badass & disturbing, and Sabaton did this man justice!

2) Inmate 4859 (Heroes)

Xylophone. For the first 10 to 12 seconds, we’re treated to some surprisingly creepy xylophone playing, and it sets the mood perfectly for what is perhaps the most tragic & chilling song that Sabaton has ever performed. The story of Witold Pilecki is one of the saddest tales in World War 2 history: after not being believed by the Polish Government in exile about the horrors of Auschwitz, he made sure that he got himself into that prison. For 2 and a half years, he tried to organize a resistance within the camp, but when that failed, he escaped back to Poland, and tried once again to get the exiled government to listen to him. After then didn’t listen for a second time, he was then arrested by the recently installed Russian government, and was executed after the mock trial they put him through, and right up until 1989, the Polish Communist Regime kept his fate sealed. Upon the revelation.....I can only imagine what the Polish people went through.

1) The Final Solution (Coat Of Arms)

I don’t think there’s every been a moment in time as horrific, racist, and bloodthirsty as the final solution. From 1941 to 1945, millions of Jewish people from fully control Nazi territories were rounded up, and sent off to camps to embrace a fate that was not theirs. Since then, the horrors of the concentration camps has been documented in excruciating detail, and on their 2010 release, Sabaton captured this period in history perfectly. Completely taking their usual jovial nature out of the picture, the band give this period of time an immense amount of respect to those that died. There’s absolutely no humor throughout the song, and instead we’re given one of the best examinations of human cruelty & insanity the world has ever seen. My hat’s off to you Sabaton. Bravo.

So those were Sabaton’s darkest songs. Even a group as happy-go-lucky as these guys, can delve into the darkness once in a while. So, for real this time, this is the last post for this month. In a few days it’s December, and thus the closing of 2017. Stay tuned for my final posts of the year. Until then, hope you’ve managed to recover from your Turkey comas. I know I am!