Swedish masters of heavy metal SABATON have joined forces with leading historically accurate naval multiplayer game World Of Warships and released a brand new single and music video titled “Yamato” — available in-game and on all DSPs now. It is being released by Better Noise Music on the heels of 2025’s “Legends”, which marked SABATON‘s first album for the label. “Crossing The Rubicon” (featuring NOTHING MORE) from the LP was also SABATON‘s first-ever Top 10 single on the Billboard Rock chart.
“Yamato” notably marks the second World Of Warships collaboration between SABATON and developer Wargaming following the mega-popular “Bismarck”. For the first time, a SABATON-branded Yamato is also available in World Of Warships in addition to dialogue by SABATON vocalist Joakim Brodén and bassist Pär Sundström. Along with different bespoke items in game, Joakim Brodén can take the helm of the ship while the standard battle soundtrack replaced by “Yamato” or “Bismarck”, transforming every engagement into an epic metal experience.
As history will tell you, Yamato was the name of a massive Japanese battleship constructed in-secret and unveiled during 1941 as the most dominant vessel of its kind. Designed to win at naval warfare, it represented the ultimate floating symbol of strength. In 1945, it famously hit the high seas on a suicide mission to defend Okinawa. Despite ceaseless fire from aircraft above and an opposing fleet of a far greater number on the water, the Yamato and its crew never gave up. Instead, they literally battled until the bitter end when a huge explosion rendered a deathblow to the ship. It sank in a blaze of glory…
As part of the alliance with World Of Warships and Wargaming, SABATON filmed the accompanying music video in Belgrade, Serbia last October. Quite fittingly, it depicts SABATON aboard the titular ship during its last stand, descending into the unforgiving ocean as the band hangs on for dear life. Waves consume the deck, but each member keeps playing his instrument even as the chaos swallows the guys up one by one.
Testing their mettle in real-life, the musicians faced brutally frigid temperatures, weathering a continuous blast of ice-cold water for the duration of the shoot. The band remained submerged in freezing waters with the help of ventilators. Pushing it to the max, the guys even wore weights beneath their stage clothes to truly evoke the sensation of sinking. Maintaining the highest level of safety protocol, professional divers assisted SABATON throughout.
About the track, Brodén said: “Battleships are interesting and naval stories have, from time to time, been part of the SABATON lore. ‘Bismarck’ was an exciting story for us to share and a fan favorite, and ‘Yamato’ is sort of a follow-up to that song. Our former guitarist, Tommy, wrote this song while he was still in the band. We only ‘Thobbefied’ it after guitar duties were returned to Thobbe!”
Sundström added: “‘Bismarck’ was such an exciting song but it was never part of an album, and it felt that it was missing something. We always wanted to follow up on that story. Over the years, countless fans have asked us to write a song about Yamato, and we knew that that would be a natural continuation of what we started with ‘Bismarck’. We knew we wanted this song to have a totally different sound, and when Tommy was writing the music for this, we felt we had the appropriate, powerful song for this story. Once again, we are collaborating with World Of Warships, and since our worlds are so close, it just feels so natural to continue this great partnership. Together, we once again created a legendary music video!”
SABATON had previously partnered with World Of Warships and Wargaming for “Bismarck” in 2019. Among the most popular tunes in SABATON‘s catalog, the song has garnered more than 116.8 million Spotify streams to date, while the gripping music video has tallied over 107 million views and counting. Revolver magazine praised, “SABATON has made a career by writing kickass hooks about extremely specific moments of military history, and between Wargaming‘s world-class attention to detail and the band’s artillery nerdom, this was a match made in heaven.”
In more than two decades since the band’s launch, SABATON has headlined major festivals, sold-out arena concerts worldwide and gained a legion of loyal fans by carving out a reputation for being one of the hardest-working bands in the business. Since their 2005 debut album, they’ve earned gold, platinum, and multi-platinum certifications in territories around the world with their 10 studio albums. They’ve also had eight albums score Top 10 international chart status, and six claim the Top 5. The band has earned eight Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards nominations, taking home the award for “Breakthrough Artist” in 2011 and “Best Live Band” in three different years, and a Grammis nomination (Swedish equivalent to the U.S. Grammy) as “Best Heavy Metal” band.
World Of Warships is a free, historical, online combat PC game from Wargaming. With its massive fleet of most iconic war vessels, including five different ship classes and strategically designed environment, World Of Warships provides the ultimate naval warfare gaming experience, suitable for everyone. Thanks to its largest collection of historically accurate ships available to play, World Of Warships prides itself as a digital ship museum and a focal point for naval history enthusiasts. New thematic content and innovative game modes are being added on a regular basis, providing a diverse and exciting gameplay to its broad player base.
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