Field Of Swords

Bloodbound, formed in Bollnäs, Sweden, in 2004, released Field Of Swords on Napalm Records on 21 November 2025, and King Records followed on 24 December 2025 with a limited Japanese CD (KICP-94110) carrying three bonus tracks: instrumental versions of "Defenders Of Jerusalem" and "As Empires Fall" and a Patrik J Selleby version of "The Nine Crusades". Keyboard player Fredrik Bergh describes it as a concept album that continues from the Viking Age of 2023's Tales From The North into the medieval period after 1066. In the notes to the videos, Tomas Olsson, who wrote "Defenders Of Jerusalem" on his own, sets it at the siege of 1187 in which Balian of Ibelin defended the city against Saladin's forces, and "As Empires Fall", which began as a Patrik Selleby song finished with a Bergh chorus, recounts how a Byzantine plea for help set off the Crusades. Bergh says he and Olsson wrote most of "The Nine Crusades" back in 2018 for Sabaton; Joakim Brodén liked the rough demo but the collaboration never happened, so Bloodbound recorded it themselves as a duet between Selleby and Brittney Slayes of Unleash the Archers. King Records points out that the band first played Japan in 2019. The 14 tracks run about 58 minutes, three songs have official videos and the title track a lyric video.