Albums of Purgatory interview Sabaton

Albums of Purgatory: Firstly, whats the band up to right now?

Joakim Broden: We're still waiting for the first version of our album booklet layout but the cover artwork is already done, so our album "Metalizer" will probably be released in october.

AoP: How would you describe the Sabaton sound?

JB: Hard to say, let me quote the online webzine "Metal Observer":

"Traditional, but not out-dated, rough, but melodic, intricate, but never frilly."

AoP: How did you become involved with the band?

JB: The band was at that time called "Aeon" and didn't have much songs of their own, but i was contacted by my friend Rikard Larsson who played the drums with them at the time, and he asked if i was interested to try out as a keyboardist.

AoP: Can you remember your first gig (how did it go)?

JB: Hehe. Our first gig was at a local "band contest" and i've only been in the band for about 2 months and I think it was the first time on a real stage for everyone except me and Pär. We were all pretty nervous since we hadn't had much time rehearsing the songs I'd written.

We were pretty happy with the gig at the time, but when we look at the tape today it's hard not to laugh =).

AoP: You originally joined the band on keyboards. How did you end up doing vocals?

JB: Simply because they didn't have a singer when i joined, so i sang to make rehearsing easier until they could find a vocalist. After about 10 months we decided to record a demo, but since we still hadn't found a singer I laid down the vocals. When we released the demo-cd (burned 250 copies on our own computers =) it sold out before we even had a chance to send it out to the record-labels. After that the others in the band decided to put me on vocals permanently, pretty much without notifying me. So I was still out searching for vocalists, and when I found one, the band told me that I was the singer and they weren't even interested in auditioning the new guy.

AoP: Shortly after you joined the band, Rikard had to leave. How difficult was that for the band?

JB: Since Rikard had been a friend of mine for over 3 years and the rest of the band first met him when he joined 4-5 months earlier it wasn't very hard for the majority of the band, I didn't like it but it had to be done since he was travelling a lot in his work and couldn't rehearse as much as we needed.
Daniel joined at the same time Rikard left and is still with us.

AoP: What are your favourite Sabaton tracks?

JB: Hard to say, The track that means most to me is probably "Burn your crosses" since it was written so early in the bands history, and the fact that i'm still in love with that theme and the lyrics.

But i think that songs like "Hellrider" and a new track from the new album called "Thundergods" probably are better and more mature.

AoP: What are your favourite all time songs or albums?

JB: Albums: Rainbow-Rising and Long Live RnR, Black Sabbath-Heaven and Hell and Headless Cross, Judas Priest-Defenders of the Faith, Yngwie Malmsteen-Marching Out, Accept-Metal Heart and Deep Purple-Made in Japan.

Songs: Hmm Top 6:

Rainbow-Stagazer

Rainbow-Gates of Babylon

Black Sabbath-Die Young

Yngwie Malmsteen-As above, so below

Accept-Living for tonite

Deep Purple-Anya

AoP: What was the first record you bought?

JB: Still one of my favourites, Twisted Sister-Stay Hungry

AoP: What would be your dream band line-up?

JB: I like the current one, but that's not what you want to hear so here's a fantasy line-up:

Vocals-Mats Levén (ex Yngwie)

Guitar1-Tony Iommi

Guitar2-Ritchie Blackmore

Bass-Geezer Butler

Drums-Cozy Powell

Keyboards-Myself =)

AoP: What do you think of the position of metal and music in general today?

JB: I actually think it's pretty good, as long as there ain't any big money in metal we'll mostly get bands that play what they want because they like it.

If metal were a big industry we would have so much crap released by the major labels that metal would kill itself.

(not counting Limp Bizkit, P.O.D. Nickelback etc. as metalbands, they're pop, grunge or whatever metal-wannabees)

AoP: Which other bands in the scene really stand out for you at the moment?

JB: Dio and Udo, to name some old ones still going strong.

AoP: Do you have any funny stories about the band you can share with us?

JB: Not many stories funny enough in print, and some that are way too sick.

AoP: and finally, what do you see in the future for Sabaton?

JB: I lost my ability to see into the future in Vietnam.