Live: Sabaton in Silver Spring

Sabaton and Kreator have teamed up for a North American tour bringing with them Cyhra and even though Sabaton just finished up touring America for their newest release The Last Stand, fans were overjoyed to hear they were coming back. I was able to catch the date at The Fillmore in Silver Spring Maryland, the same venue that closed out the last leg of the tour. Cyhra opened up the night. I was totally unfamiliar with these guys but instantly fell in love. This supergroup is formed of ex members of In Flames, Amaranthe, Shining, Rhapsody and Annihilator but together they are absolutely amazing. They played “Letter to Myself” and “Karma” and sounded phenomenal. Frontman Jake E had the crowds full attention throughout their set. I would like to see a lot more from these guys in the near future. Kreator opened their set with “Phantom Antichrist” and the crowd went nuts. That song was meant to be heard live and I could not believe how intense the crowd got so quickly. They went on to play “Hail to the Hordes” and my personal favorite from their most recent release Gods of Violence “Satan Is Real”. They also played the title track from that album as well as crowd favorite “Flag of Hate”. During their set vocalist Mille Petrozza called for the crowd to get in position for the wall of death which was insanely awesome to see at The Fillmore. Kreator gave the crowd exactly what they wanted throughout their set even breaking out their hit “Violent Revolution” in the end. Finally was the almighty Sabaton. Fans can always expect a good time when Sabaton takes the stage. Frontman Joakim Broden jokes and interacts with the crowd throughout the show and at times it can be hysterical. Much like at the beginning of their set when a portion of the crowd started to chant for him to “take it off” referring to his vest. Joakim playfully obliged and the whole room laughed. There was also a portion of the show before they played “Swedish Pagans” where Joakim and guitarist Tommy Johansson playfully argued over playing the song on stage. This time around the band had a drop down screen playing really cool graphics and videos along with the songs instead of the traditional backdrop which was really cool to watch. During their song “Sparta” it was almost a sing-a-long graphic on the screen. They also played “Carolus Rex” and crowd favorite “The Last Stand.” Overall their set could not have been better and fans adored every second of it. Sabaton is forever one of the most fun and enjoyable bands to see live in my opinion. -Tera Ford