7 September 2025 – Fortitude Music Hall, Brisbane – words by Lucas Bell – pictures by Bec Harbour
Just over three years since their last tour of Australia on Good Things 2022, Swedish power metal titans Sabaton made their highly anticipated return to Australia. The band’s next album, Legends, doesn’t drop until mid-October. But having the band back for more, before the album releases, has been a hot topic of conversation within my friend groups that love metal. They don’t even need to have material out to sell out shows in Australia, and Brisbane showed up loud and proud, to support the Swedish history buffs.
But before Sabaton took to the stage, fellow Swedes; Amaranthe were out first. I’ve been a fan of this band for a little while, after hearing their track ‘Drop Dead Cynical’ on 2015’s Guitar Hero Live. Dead on 7:50pm. drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen, bassist Johan Andreassen, and guitarist Olof Mörck walked out to start up the set opener, ‘Fearless’, as singer Elize Ryd walked out to open the track. Mikael Sehlin then walked out hitting the harsh vocals, as Nils Molin walked out with his incredible high cleans, which completed the trifecta of vocalists, as with each walkout, the crowd got a little louder. The choreographic reveal was so cool, as for those that might not have realised this band has three singers would have been such a sweet surprise. Molin mentioned how good it was to see Brisbane again, as ‘Viral’ started, and was followed up with one of my favorite songs, ‘Digital World’, complete with synchronized headbanging from the three vocalists, as they stood on their respective risers on the stage and moshed along.
Amaranthe – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Molin spoke again about how awesome it is to be back in Australia, after having been here just last year. I was so disappointed I missed the show last year, as I fell ill the day of the show. So having them come back so quickly made me, personally, very happy. Molin even mentioned how their last tour was a headline. But they couldn’t pass up missing Australia with Sabaton, which was so cool to hear. The song ‘Damnation Flame’ was introduced, as we got more heaviness, which led brilliantly into ‘Strong’. ‘Maximize’ drew massive clap-along encouragement, and we even got thrown back in 2021 with ‘PvP’, which was a track they wrote for a Swedish e-sports team.
Ryd mentioned it was time to bring the mood down a little for ‘Amaranthine’, and the crowd even helped sing along the first chorus, which Ryd happily obliged to have help.The mood immediately elevated back to heavy as quick as it fell, for ‘The Nexus’, as blue lights and green accents filled the stage. It was then time to move our feet, as ‘Call Out My Name’ played, before the band all walked off stage. It seemed like a bit of an encore, as even the venue thought it was the end of the set as the house lights turned on, before quickly being turned back off, as a red glow filled the stage for the band’s return for ‘Archangel’. Molin and Ryd mentioned how right now felt like a Scandinavian summer, and how coming back to Australia has been such a marvelous time. After a bit more crowd work, which included telling Brisbane they were by far the loudest crowd of this tour, as they were last time, everyone in the band except for drummer Sørensen went to leave the stage, as he teased we weren’t done just yet, as he drummed the intro to ‘We Will Rock You’, as ‘That Song’ played. They closed out the set with one more song, which was of course, ‘Drop Dead Cynical’, and got photos with Brisbane as they said their goodbyes.
Amaranthe – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Between the sets, I ran to the bar, as when I turned around, the line for Amaranthe merch was something I had never seen before between sets at the Fortitude Music Hall. And when I was at the bar halfway through Sabaton’s set, I saw that Amaranthe had sold every piece of merchandise they had brought to the show, which is so awesome. I hope this means they’ve found a market here and come back again soon.
Around quarter past nine, the lights in the Hall dimmed again, as ‘The March of War’ played via tape over the speakers. A single spotlight shined down on drummer Hannes Van Dahl. His kit, on a long riser that stretched the back of the stage, with the logo for the band’s upcoming record, Legends, draped in front of the riser. As Pär Sundström, Chris Rörland, and Thobbe Englund made their way on stage, lead vocalist Joakim Brodén ran out, hyping the crowd with “Alright Brisbane, we are Sabaton”, as they opened on ‘Ghost Division’. The first of many massive Sabaton chants broke out, and second out the gate was ‘The Last Stand’. I didn’t expect this track so early in the set, as in the last 12 months this song has achieved a mainstream level of mythic success. But the crowd were into it, as the chorus was sung loud by Brisbane with Brodén.
Sabaton – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Another massive ovation kicked off, as Brodén welcomed Brisbane to the show. He mentioned how mental the crowd had been already, and couldn’t understand how we had so much energy, as we must have all been in church today, which drew a big laugh. Before the show, Brodén made a promise to Van Dahl to keep the banter to a minimum, as while he might not look imposing, he has guns. So little talk. All metal tonight, which drew another massive cheer. Brodén asked for help to sing ‘The Red Baron’, as the crowd was encouraged to sing the “higher” part of the song. The guitar solo in this track absolutely rips live too. ‘The Great War’ was introduced and played, and after another Sabaton chant, Brodén called for silence, which was immediately granted. Van Dahl joked about not knowing the set list, as apparently he didn’t have a list near him, as ‘Fields of Verdun’ started up. Bismarck then was up next, which drew big chants during the intro.
Sabaton – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Brodén quickly disappeared off stage for a moment, and returned, holding a guitar. He then solo, played the intro to ‘Master of Puppets’, and led the crowd in an acapella sing along of the first verse. This was already amazing. But the part I haven’t mentioned yet, is that he did all of this with a guitar that had Hello Kitty branding all over it. Metal is very serious business, and always calls for cute kawaii shit, when appropriate. Brodén then said “okay that’s enough. Let’s play some Sabaton. With a Hello Kitty guitar!”, as they launched into ‘Resist and Bite’. It was then disco time for ‘Soldier of Heaven’, and Brodén mentioned how it’s been a while since they’ve been back to Australia. With the upcoming release of Legends, they couldn’t put a set of that material together for us, as most of it hasn’t been released yet. But, we did get a taste of new material, with ‘Hordes of Khan’ being played. After ‘The Attack of the Dead Men’, we got ‘Carolus Rex’, but in Swedish, which was dope to hear. We then got a tempo rise with ‘Stormtroopers’, which returned the crowd to singing loud and moshing hard.
Sabaton – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Englund then briefly spoke about how tonight had sold out. He then joked with the crowd about how people say Australian audiences aren’t as good as Swedish audiences, which drew massive boos. He then won us back by saying “those people lied”, which was funny. Another Sabaton chant broke out, and Englund asked for the venue lights to be turned off, and phone lights to come out for ‘Christmas Truce’. Bomb sirens rang out for ‘Night Witches’, and after ANOTHER Sabaton chant, we got ‘The Art of War’. Brodén then mentioned how he loves Australia, and it’s history, as ‘Cliffs of Gallipoli’ played, and we got hit with three back to back bangers to close out the show, with ‘Primo Victoria’, ‘Swedish Pagans’, and set closer ‘To Hell and Back’, which felt like it went for about 20 minutes, from the sheer amount of crowd participation they did during it.
Sabaton – FMH – photos by Bec Harbour
Overall, this was one of the best Sunday nights I’ve had this year. I hope both bands come back soon, as it was evident tonight, that Australia has so much love for both bands.
