The Last Stand

This is the eighth Sabaton album. Peter Tagtgren produced it again, at Abyss Studios in Sweden, and it came out on 19 August 2016. Like Heroes before it, it is a concept record; this time the subject is the last stand. The battles are scattered across time and place. "Sparta" is Thermopylae, "Blood of Bannockburn" Scotland in 1314, "The Lost Battalion" the Argonne in the First World War, "Rorke's Drift" South Africa in 1879, "Hill 3234" a Soviet position in Afghanistan, and "Shiroyama" the final battle of the Satsuma Rebellion in Japan in 1877. "Winged Hussars" is the relief of Vienna in 1683. The band is Joakim Broden on vocals and keyboards, Par Sundstrom on bass, Chris Rorland and Thobbe Englund on guitars and Hannes Van Dahl on drums. Englund left in July 2016, making this his last album with them until he returned in February 2024. Jon Schaffer of Iced Earth speaks on "Diary of an Unknown Soldier", and "Blood of Bannockburn" has Jonas Kjellgren on bagpipes and Tomas Sunmo on Hammond organ. The singles were "The Lost Battalion" on 10 June, "Blood of Bannockburn" on 15 July and "Shiroyama" on 12 August. A History Channel Edition with a historical preface to each song reached Patreon subscribers on 25 June 2021.