Sabaton will commemorate the 500th anniversary of one of the oldest military establishments in the world, the Swedish Royal Guard, with their new singles Livgardet (sung in their native Swedish) and The Royal Guard (the track’s English counterpart).
“Since 2012 and Carolus Rex we have been looking forward to writing more songs in Swedish and we felt that we were not done with the history of our fatherland,” explains bassist/co-songwriter Pär Sundström. “Over the past years, we have been discussing topics until something obvious came up. One of the oldest military regiments in the world, the Swedish Royal Guard (Livgardet), was formed in Sabaton’s home region in Sweden, Dalecarlia, in 1521 by the legendary Swedish king Gustav Vasa.
“For the past 500 years they have evolved with the times and served under various kings and queens around the world, and they are still active today. We felt that such an anniversary would be worth a song and we aimed at writing a respectful tribute, an anthem for this Swedish regiment and its legacy.
“The rich 500 years of history is, needless to say, extremely hard to fit into one single song and that is why we mainly focused on the parts and battles that happened during the age of the Swedish Empire. We aimed to write a respectful tribute, a powerful anthem, for this Swedish regiment and its remarkable legacy.”
Check out the video for Livgardet below.
Like what you hear? You can stream or purchase Livgardet HERE. The Royal Guard is available to pre-save HERE.
Sabaton will release Livgardet and The Royal Guard on a limited 12″ vinyl, with an etched B-side, gold foil prints and embossed artwork, on 9th April 2021. Pre-orders are available HERE.
