Heroes (Sabaton album)

Heroes is the seventh studio album by Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton. It was released on 6 May 2014. It is the first album to feature the new Sabaton line-up with guitarists Chris Rörland and Thobbe Englund, as well as new drummer Hannes van Dahl. It was produced by Peter Tägtgren in Abyss Studios.[3] The artwork was made by Péter Sallai[4] and the photos were created by Ryan Garrison. The first single To Hell and Back from their album was released digitally on 14 March 2014 and available on iTunes, Nuclear Blast, Amazon and Google Play.[5] The second single Resist And Bite was also released digitally on 2 May 2014, available on iTunes, Nuclear Blast and Amazon.[6]

Heroes
Studio album by
Sabaton
ReleasedMay 16, 2014
RecordedJanuary–February 2014
StudioThe Abyss, Pärlby, Sweden
GenreHeavy metal, power metal[1]
LengthCD 36:57
Digipak 44:18
Earbook 50:21
LabelNuclear Blast
ProducerPeter Tägtgren
Sabaton chronology
Carolus Rex
(2012)		 Heroes
(2014)		 The Last Stand
(2016)
Singles from Heroes
  1. "To Hell and Back"
    Released: 28 March 2014
  2. "Resist and Bite"
    Released: 2 May 2014
  3. "Night Witches"
    Released: 15 October 2014
Limited and EARBOOK edition cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[2]
Ultimate Guitar7.2/10[1]

Pär Sundström said about the album's concept: "Well, I think this is a perfect concept for Sabaton. We decided to go for the idea to write about individuals instead of bigger battles. Individuals who we think basically went beyond their call of duty, put themselves into harm's way for the good of others".[7]

In an interview to the Brazilian Army's official blog, Sundström explained that the idea for the track "Smoking Snakes" came when he was doing some research for the album: "I tried searching for the word 'Helden', which means heroes in German. I then came across the story of the Drei Brasilianischen Helden (Three Brazilian Heroes) and, from that point on, we deepened our research and decided to write the track."[8] On 17 April 2015, the Brazilian 14th Motorized Infantry Brigade Orchestra covered the song as a thanksgiving.[9]

Track listing

All lyrics by Joakim Brodén and Pär Sundström. All music by Joakim Brodén,[10] except "Inmate 4859" by Brodén & Peter Tägtgren, and "Soldier of 3 Armies" by Brodén & Thobbe Englund.[11]

No.TitleThemeLength
1."Night Witches"The all female Soviet 588th Night Bomber Regiment called "Night Witches".3:01
2."No Bullets Fly"The Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident, in which German pilot Stigler accompanied a disabled American bomber back to the English Channel.3:36
3."Smoking Snakes"Arlindo Lúcio da Silva, Geraldo Baeta da Cruz and Geraldo Rodrigues de Souza – 3 Brazilian Expeditionary Force soldiers who became separated from their unit and fought a large contingent of Germans in Italy on 14 April 1945. Refusing surrender, they fought to their deaths and were buried by the Germans, who placed a cross over their graves with the inscription 'Drei brasilianische Helden' (Three Brazilian Heroes).3:13
4."Inmate 4859"Witold Pilecki, soldier of Polish Armia Krajowa and leader of resistance movement in the Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp, where he was interned voluntarily as inmate number 4859. Produced the Witold's Report.4:25
5."To Hell and Back"Audie Murphy, one of the most decorated American veterans of World War II. Specifically his post war battle with PTSD. Based on his own poem 'The Crosses Grow on Anzio' from his book 'To Hell and Back'3:25
6."The Ballad of Bull"Corporal Leslie "Bull" Allen, an Australian Army soldier awarded the US Silver Star for rescuing 12 wounded American soldiers during the Papua New Guinea campaign of World War II.[12][13][14]3:53
7."Resist and Bite"Chasseurs Ardennais, an infantry formation of the Belgian Armed Forces that fought in the Battle of Belgium in World War II3:27
8."Soldier of 3 Armies"Lauri Törni, known as Larry Thorne, a soldier of the Finnish Army, the German Waffen-SS, and the United States Army Green Berets in Vietnam3:38
9."Far from the Fame"Hero of Czechoslovakia – Air Marshal Karel Janoušek, founder of Czechoslovakian forces in Royal Air Force. Later imprisoned by communist regime in Czechoslovakia.3:46
10."Hearts of Iron"The German forces of the 12th and 9th Armies who, facing defeat at the hands of the Soviets, created a corridor across the Elbe to protect fleeing refugees and soldiers to escape and surrender to the West.4:28
Total length:36:57
No.TitleThemeLength
11."7734"A re-recording of a song originally released in the Metalizer album. 7734 is a calculator spelling of "Hell". The song's lyrics reference both soldiers in general and religion.3:33
12."Man of War"References various songs of the classic metal band Manowar, paying them homage.3:48
Total length:44:18
  • These last two tracks are listed on every other released version of this album.
No.TitleLength
13."For Whom the Bell Tolls" (Metallica cover)5:22
14."En hjältes väg" (Raubtier cover)4:26
15."Out of Control" (Battle Beast cover)3:36
Total length:57:42
  • These last three songs are only featured on the earbook edition.[15][16]

Personnel

Release information
  • The special limited earbook edition (28x28cm) is housed in a faux leather sleeve including a metal emblem, a signing card and a 5-track bonus CD (only through mailorder).[15][17]
  • Limited 500 blue yellow splatter vinyls edition.[18]
  • Black vinyl edition with six songs on the A-side and six on the B-side of which the last two are bonus tracks: "7734" and "Man Of War".[19]
  • Limited Digi book edition.[20]
  • Limited 300 green vinyls edition.[21] The green vinyl edition also comes in a DLP (double LP) format.[22]
  • Limited edition Clear Numbered Vinyl, LP, Album 100 hand numbered copies with gatefold cover.[23][24]

Charts
Chart (2014) Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[25] 26
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[26] 70
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[27] 18
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[28] 35
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[29] 3
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[30] 17
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[31] 13
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[32] 5
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[33] 1
UK Albums (OCC)[34] 59
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[35] 2
US Billboard 200[36] 99

Music video

The song "To Hell and Back" was also made into a music video which was directed by Owe Lingvall and produced by Bengt Larvia. It was uploaded on Nuclear Blast Records main YouTube channel on 15 May, and currently has over 5 million views as of March 2020.[37]

References
  1. "Heroes Review - Sabaton - Ultimate Guitar". 2 June 2014. Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  2. Bowar, Chad. "Sabaton Heroes Review". Retrieved 26 July 2014.
  3. "Sabaton – Official Headquarters NEW ALBUM "HEROES" TO BE RELEASED IN MAY 2014! - Sabaton - Official Headquarters". Sabaton - Official Headquarters. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  4. http://www.metal-archives.com/artists/Péter_Sallai/36765
  5. "SABATON – first single »To Hell And Back« ... - Nuclear Blast". Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  6. "SABATON - 'Resist And Bite' – Digital ... - Nuclear Blast". Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  7. Interview with Pär Sundström, by Grande-Rock.com retrieved on 13 June 2014.
  8. "Banda Sabaton concede entrevista onde fala sobre a canção Smoking Snakes". EBlog (in Portuguese). Brazilian Army. 17 July 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2014.
  9. Brazilian Army plays Smoking Snakes. YouTube. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
  10. Sabaton. "RELEASES – DISCOGRAPHY – LYRICS". Sabaton. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  11. Nuclear Blast Records: SABATON - Heroes (OFFICIAL TRACK-BY-TRACK PART II), official YouTube Video
  12. "Call for World War II hero Leslie 'Bull' Allen to be posthumously awarded Victoria Cross". Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  13. "Black and white photo of Leslie 'Bull' Allen carrying wounded soldier - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  14. "Biography - Leslie Charles (Clarence) Allen - Australian Dictionary of Biography". Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. http://www.discogs.com/Sabaton-Heroes/release/5698735
  17. http://www.discogs.com/Sabaton-Heroes/release/5695439
  18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  19. "SABATON". Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  20. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 April 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. "SABATON". Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  22. "SABATON". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  23. http://www.discogs.com/Sabaton-Heroes/release/5695402
  24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  25. "Ultratop.be – Sabaton – Heroes" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  26. "Ultratop.be – Sabaton – Heroes" (in French). Hung Medien.
  27. "Danishcharts.dk – Sabaton – Heroes". Hung Medien.
  28. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sabaton – Heroes" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  29. "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH.
  30. "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2014. 21. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ.
  31. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sabaton – Heroes". Hung Medien.
  32. "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2014-05-30.
  33. "Swedishcharts.com – Sabaton – Heroes". Hung Medien.
  34. "Sabaton | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  35. "Sabaton: Heroes" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  36. "Sabaton Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  37. SABATON - To Hell And Back (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO). YouTube. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
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