Swedish metallers SABATON have signed with Better Noise Music, fresh from celebrating its fifth year as No. 1 Billboard and Mediabase Active Rock Radio label.
Better Noise Music is known for its creative artist development, innovative cross-media strategies, and ability to build international success stories. It was named Billboard‘s No. 1 Mainstream Rock Airplay Label and No. 1 Mainstream Rock Airplay Imprint of 2024, after its history-making run of five consecutive years as the No. 1 Mainstream Rock Airplay Imprint (2018-2022). In 2023 Allen Kovac moved up to chairman role and over the last two and a half years the company has been run by Dan Waite CEO, Steve Kline COO and president, Harris Masood CFO and Paul Cormack GM.
SABATON is the No. 1 global power metal band and one of Sweden’s biggest acts, with four billion streams on Spotify alone. On April 25, they will unveil the single and video “Templars” as the first release from their debut Better Noise Music album.
Since SABATON‘s 2005 debut LP, the band has released 10 studio albums (some of which have been certified as gold, platinum, and even quadruple platinum),seen eight of its albums score Top 10 international chart status, and six claim the Top 5.
“We’re truly excited to begin this new chapter with Better Noise Music,” SABATON bassist and manager Pär Sundström comments. “After exploring various record labels worldwide, we found Better Noise to be the perfect fit. As an independent label, they haven’t traditionally focused on our style of heavy metal, making this collaboration particularly exciting. We’re excited to see how this partnership develops, confident that they’re ready to embrace the challenge of working with a band that brings a unique sound to their roster.”
“We’re thrilled to welcome SABATON to our roster,” says Lexie Viklund, the label’s director of A&R. “Their powerful music and storytelling have resonated with fans worldwide, and we’re eager to amplify their presence in the U.S. while continuing to grow their global impact.”
SABATON‘s upcoming single, “Templars” “chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Knights Templar, an order of warrior-monks founded in the early 12th century to protect Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land,” according to a press release. “Bound by vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, they grew into a wealthy and influential force across Europe, until the early 14th century, when King Philip IV of France accused them of heresy and corruption, leading to their sudden and brutal downfall.”
Last October, SABATON frontman Joakim Brodén told Radioactive MikeZ, host of the 96.7 KCAL-FM program “Wired In The Empire”, about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the band’s follow-up to 2022’s “The War To End All Wars” album: “Yeah, we’re working on new material always, it feels like. I mean, if we’re done [with] an album, I feel like, ‘Screw that. I don’t wanna write music for a while now.’ But there I am three months later writing new music. Maybe I’ll sit with one of the guitarists on tour one day, and we’ll be bored on a day off because there wasn’t that much to do that day. It was Sunday. Everything’s closed. So let’s grab our gear and crank out a song because it’s better than doing nothing.”
He continued: “We already have some material. So it’s not like we are, after this, gonna take a break and then start writing. We’re in the works already.”
Elaborating on how he feels after an album is completed, Joakim said: “For me, when an album is ready, I — sorry to say — fucking hate it, because first process… And I’m not the only songwriter in the band, but I’m the one who writes most of the music. And I’m involved with lyrics or in most of the songs and almost all of the songs in a musical way. So I spend months in the studio writing, alone or with somebody, then getting all the pre-productions ready, which is me again cleaning up takes and what are we gonna do putting it all together, delivering it to everybody in the band so they can practice. Then we go into the studio. And then I’m the constant in the studio, keeping track of everything, making sure everything is [as it should be], with the producer. So I’m there for the whole recording. Then I take a little break, and then the audio engineer starts mixing. And then I come in again for the mixing. And then, at that point, I’m already tired of the songs. And then all you do from that point on is try to find problems and errors. What went wrong? What’s wrong here? Do we need to do a retake on something? Should we fix something? Oh, is that too loud? Do we need to EQ? So at that point I’ve programmed myself to only hear the problems with the album. So by the time like the master is done, I fucking hate it. I’m so tired of that music. So it’ll take me a year or two before I can even, in some objective way, listen to it again.”
“The War to End All Wars” was the last SABATON album to feature guitarist Tommy Johansson. He has since been replaced by a returning Thobbe Englund.
Thobbe originally joined SABATON in April 2012 and amicably parted ways with the band in July 2016 to focus on his personal life and expand his creativity. He rejoined SABATON in February 2024.
Englund recorded two studio albums with SABATON, namely “Heroes” (2014) and “The Last Stand” (2016),and assisted with the songwriting of some very popular songs including “Shiroyama” and “Fields Of Verdun”, among others.
In November 2025, SABATON will embark on a 20-city European run dubbed “The Legendary Tour”. The band teased the trek as “a huge celebration of SABATON‘s music, storytelling and the incredible bond they share with their fans”, featuring “The Legendary Orchestra and other surprises,” resulting in “something unprecedented.”
Last fall, SABATON served as main support to JUDAS PRIEST on the legendary heavy metal band’s North American tour.
In the more than two decades since their launch, SABATON has achieved quadruple-platinum sales, headlined major festivals, sold-out arena concerts across the globe, and earned a legion of loyal fans by being self-managed and carving out a reputation as one of the most innovative bands in rock. SABATON combines standout stage design and production with epic concept albums, linking real-life historical war events with classic kick-ass metal. To date, the band has released ten studio albums, amassed six gold, two platinum, and one four-times-platinum awards, seen eight of its albums score Top 10 international chart status, and six claim the Top 5.
When SABATON hit the 20-year mark, they headlined both stages at Wacken 2019 — the biggest metal festival in the world — simultaneously. Meanwhile, in 2023 as part of a charity initiative, SABATON donated their full-length animated movie to museums around the world in order to increase awareness and visitor numbers, and successfully encouraged people to support the preservation of history in these establishments. During SABATON‘s 25th-anniversary year, the band released the “Tour To End All Tours” concert film, and through independent distribution, it was screened in more than 1,200 cinemas spanning 28 territories.
Photo credit: Ryan Garrison
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