Alongside the modern resurgence of nu metal, it feels like power metal grows stronger and more relevant with every year: in a packed out Motorpoint Arena on Saturday night, one couldn’t help but acknowledge just how popular the genre has become. Sabaton stand at the absolute forefront of that movement, with their new Legendary Tour feeling like a genuine landmark event (no doubt aided by the presence of a touring orchestra, a dramatic move even by their standards). One thing’s for sure: the Swedish crew certainly brought the power at their Nottingham show.

The Legendary Orchestra

Even given the lofty expectations placed upon a power metal band at the height of their popularity, the decision to tour supported by an entire orchestra is a bold one. The Legendary Orchestra were sprawled across the vast stage of the Motorpoint: it was evident that no corners had been cut, as the ensemble featured a choir surrounded by all-manner of strings, brass and timpani. As far as watching the performance was concerned though, the stars were out front— conductor and vocalist Noa Gruman, multi-instrumentalist Patty Gurdy and violinist Mia Asano all exuded confidence, tearing through each melody and adapted solo with complete abandon. The show’s sense of scale was also added to by the extreme staging adopted for the Legendary Tour— clearly, no expense had been spared, given the turrets and props set up across the Motorpoint. Sabaton had transformed their stage into a ginormous castle, complete with a drum kit suspended way up above the orchestra: the later reveal that such a scene takes a 200 person crew to assemble each night was no surprise, given just how elaborate and impressive the entire event could be.

The Legendary Orchestra may have been named for Sabaton’s newest record, but it helpfully doubles as an accurate descriptor: the ensemble weren’t just covering the night’s headline act, but elevating the material. The surging momentum every power metal band hopes to capture should be child’s play for a group of this scale, and these performers were loathe to disappoint— hearing the chorus of a cut like ‘Resist and Bite’ brought to life by an entire choir was enough to give you goosebumps! The show was absolutely overflowing with bombast, becoming almost suffocating at a certain point: ‘A Lifetime of War’ came as a welcome reprieve, if you would dare to call an orchestral ballad a breather. Honestly though, the biggest disappointment throughout the show was that each track played was deconfirmed for the following headline performance: attendees would no doubt have delighted in seeing cuts like ‘Ghost Division’ and ‘Swedish Pagans’ performed by Sabaton themselves. That’s no real criticism though, but a natural consequence of the show’s design— when the Legendary Orchestra built to the thunderous climax of ‘Winged Hussars,’ you were left to question whether or not the original band actually could’ve done it any better.

Sabaton

If the presence of that ginormous orchestral act hadn’t tipped you off, the Legendary Tour is a momentous occasion, even by power metal standards— Sabaton’s show left no doubt that this is one of the grandest and most high-budget events you could hope to see right now. The set kicked off not with a blast of distorted guitars, as you might’ve expected, but with a dose of comedy: yes, somewhere in Sabaton’s budget were the funds to hire several actors to appear throughout the show. Before the metal mayhem could commence, Napoleon, Genghis Khan and Caesar were set to argue over who the ‘greatest legend in history’ was, leading to more usage of the word ‘ass’ than you might’ve expected. An unorthodox note to open on, the comedy did wonders to build anticipation for what was to come (even if it did drag on just a little too long): the reveal that those helmeted knights in the background were actually the members of Sabaton had us all gasping though, leading into the real meat of the show.

It should be no great revelation to learn that the Swedish crew were barrels of fun at the Motorpoint Arena— Sabaton have long been known to have one of the best live shows around, and their latest outing did not disappoint. Aside from the odd pitch issue during some of the band’s new material, frontman Joakim Brodén’s gnarled baritone voice was a rumbling beast, roaring into the venue: it was a welcome pair with the group’s boisterous guitar tones and reverberating drum hits that gave the entire performance a very open, arena-rock sound. That kind of auditory presence is no small feat, especially given how effortless it appeared to be: the members of Sabaton (save for drummer Hannes Van Dahl, stuck twenty feet up in the air as he was) loved to bound across the stage, grinning like schoolchildren all the while. When the group would humorously bicker amongst themselves or chase each other around the castle, their status as one of the biggest metal bands on the planet melted away for a moment: bassist Pär Sundström’s heartfelt speech about feeling accepted before ‘Christmas Truce’ had a similar effect, bringing a welcome dose of humanity to what was, otherwise, a highly produced and scripted event.

The dramatics were not limited to that opening comedy set, but persisted across the entire show: near every track was gifted its own prologue or moment of suspense, making The Legendary Tour feel almost cinematic in places. Opener ‘Templars’ was a fitting choice given the soldier’s garb the band were kitted out in, but it was the following ‘The Last Stand’ that received the near-deafening cheer: it would not be the last time the audience’s enthusiasm caused ears to ring. New record ‘Legends’ made up a significant portion of the show’s opening leg, with actors coming out to announce ‘I, Emperor,’ ‘Hordes of Khan’ and ‘Crossing the Rubicon’— the last of these was particularly ferocious, having the entire place headbanging like crazy. Even when Sabaton began to pull out their more tried-and-true material as the show went on, the surprises continued to come thick and fast, including; constant costume changes from the band; a march through the crowd for ‘The Attack of the Dead Men;’ the return of the Legendary Choir for several tracks; the use of ceremonial drums for ‘A Tiger Among Dragons;’ and so, so much pyro. If you’re looking for a summary, let it be this— Sabaton’s Legendary Tour is less like a concert and more like a powerful piece of theatre, with an outrageous budget and a career-spanning setlist. If you can get a ticket, you’d be shooting yourself in the foot by missing out on this one.