Sabaton may not be a band many are familiar with, and we say that needs to change. The Swedish heavy metal kings are seriously one of the most talented band of dudes in the metal scene today. And we had the honor of sitting down with Chris Rörland (guitar) and Hannes van Dahl (drums) of Sabaton and chat about life, music, and having the support of government to keep doing what they love!
Your songs are very historically charged, a lot of famous battles and units of war. Were you guys big history buffs before you joined Sabaton?
Chris: (laughing) No, no…
Hannes: We were not, or at least I wasn’t. I’ve always had the opinion that it’s very important though. Something you really shouldn’t forget, but history buff? No. Am I a history buff now? (laughing) Closer to it, yes.
Chris: It comes with the territory.
Hannes: It does, for sure. When joining a band where there’s a real genuine interest in these stories and you hear stories that you can’t fucking believe actually happened for real, and like we’ve said many times, it makes Hollywood look stupid. Like, why are you making up new shit? So yeah, for sure, very fascinated at least.
Chris: Yeah, same goes for me. I wasn’t that good a kid in school (laughing) and didn’t really like it, but we have a lot of history and some things I was really focused on, and some things I was just like, man… school, you know? But now that I’ve joined the band, it’s a totally different thing. It’s pushed on you and you have to grow into it, you know? But it feels better now. You can actually make a song and it’s about something important, so it’s totally different.
Who are some metal icons or inspirations that you guys really look up to?
Chris: Oh yeah, I grew up listening to 80’s Heavy Metal… Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, everything, but the biggest influence for me was Iron Maiden. Adrian Smith (guitar), that’s my idol.
Hannes: Yeah, we come from pretty much the same school, with a few people grooving into different bands. Judas Priest, Metallica, Iron Maiden, that kind of stuff for sure.
Chris: Yeah, but now, you and me anyway, we’re into heavier stuff.
Hannes: Yeah, it seems like the more I play, and the older I get, the more the spread gets bigger. I can enjoy Fleetwood Mac as much as I enjoy Death. For sure, a good song is a good song, you know? I don’t really care who made it.
Absolutely. I see a lot of your fans out there with Amon Amarth shirts on. I’m a big fan of them, too.
Both: Oh yeah! Yeah!
So your last US tour was five years ago, back in 2012.
Chris: Yeah, that was my first headline tour with Sabaton.
Hannes: We did one in 2011, too.
Chris: It was very small clubs and bars, where the stage was (holds up hands) this big. But it was fun to do, actually, because it was so different. It was my first time in America as well. So different from Europe. It’s getting bigger and bigger, and we’ve done supports ever since, and we feel like we’re getting bigger and growing, and felt like “let’s do another headline tour; it’s time.”
I was reading some of your history online, and it said Metalyzer was actually your first album, is that true, or…?
Chris: I can’t remember!! Was it Fist For Fight, or was it Metalyzer?
Hannes: I’m pretty sure Metalyzer was the first one. (laughing)
When I was listening to it, it seems very very different from your later work. What was the catalyst that changed it?
Chris: When Sabaton started, they wanted to be a power metal band, singing about dragons and cool stuff, and hell and stuff like that. That was just in the beginning, and then they released Fist For Fight, and then when they were about to record the Primo Victoria album, they had the music written for it, and it was such a heavy song, they were like… ah, what should we do? It was such a heavy song, it needs a heavy topic, then they started leaning toward war history and it actually fit the song really good, and they were like “fuck, this is cool!” and it fit. We learned something in the process, and that’s how they started. It wasn’t a necessary evil anymore to write lyrics.
Yeah, there’s plenty of real evil out there, why sing about dragons and stuff like that?
Chris: Yeah, exactly!
Sweden is home to some real major kick ass bands. Is there any initial struggle to push past a lot of the breakout point? Getting noticed… getting above the noise level.
Hannes: It always is, I would say, but we also have a lot of opportunities to play music because it’s a government supported thing.
Really? That’s a completely foreign idea.
Hannes: Yeah, It’s a culture thing. It’s one of the best things, really. When you’re a kid, you know, 14 or 15, it’s easy to slip into some stupid shit instead, but if you want to start a band, or even a bird watching club, and you’re more than three people, you can go sign up for it and you’ll get a rehearsal space, help with rent, get a P.A., drum kit, drumsticks…
Yeah, over here in the U.S. it’s like “starve or be successful,” those are your only two options.
Hannes: And I guess it plays a big role in the music export, for bands that are from Sweden, and I hope that they will keep it because it helps a lot. It makes the kids do something good instead of stupid shit.
It must be nice to have a government that actually helps it’s citizens. I can’t even imagine what that’s like. Speaking of government… given the current political climate, and World War III possibly right around the corner, are you guys excited about having new content to write about?
Chris: (laughing) It’s not like we look forward to war to get something new to write about.
Hannes: World War III has been right around the corner since the fucking Cold War. So, we write about history, meaning something that ended, right? So if you start covering current conflicts, then you’re going into politics and we don’t do that, because we don’t take any sides. In history, everybody knows what happened. Germany lost the war, tough luck. That’s what happened, whether you like it or not. But whatever, it has to be history. In the best of worlds, war could just stop, and we could still write another 2 million albums. So we’re all good. We will never run out of material.
So, I’ve been meaning to ask, why’d you pick the name “Sabaton?”
Chris: It actually comes from the claw we have on the “S”.
And a sabaton is a knight’s boot, basically.
Chris: Yeah exactly, it’s part of the armor. Ankle protection. So that’s where it came from, it’s like “metal up your ass!”
That’s a lot cooler.
Chris: And the best part, is if you go to a record store and look under “S”, you’ve got an S, then A, B, another A… the first thing you see is Sabaton.
Hannes: That’s not… (laughing) We could have just named the band “A”…
Chris: Yeah it was just pure luck.
I’d like to tell you about my new band “Aardvark…” Haha. You guys have two shows left on this tour, including tonight. What’s next? A European tour?
Chris: We just came from one, actually, eight months, and then we came here for the headline tour. We’re back home for about two weeks, and then festivals. All of them.
Hannes: And then we celebrate that Sweden just won the fucking World Cup in hockey. Boom! Yes!
Chris: They did??
Hannes: Yes. YES! (laughing and high-fiving)
Chris: After that, I don’t know. Probably go to Japan, and then next year we’ll see what happens.
So when you aren’t touring, watching hockey and writing new music, what else do you do? What do you like to do when you’re not doing this?
Chris: I like to be home. Spend time with my family, my girlfriend. Cats, dogs. Playing video games. If I don’t do that, I do a lot of design jobs. I draw stuff and make artwork for bands.
Hannes: Pretty mortal stuff, I suppose. Fishing, drinking too much coffee, listening to music. Spending time with family, being out in nature and enjoying the silence, weirdly enough. Just chill out, listen to good music and hang out with these guys. It’s great to be able to play music locally without playing a show. Just being able to get together and jam. We love to fuck around and play covers and stuff.
I’d love to see that. Thanks for your time, and looking forward to the show tonight.
