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SABATON
+ AMARANTHE
@ Hindley Street Music Hall,
Adelaide,
3rd September 2025
(Live Review)

Review and photos by Michael Selge (@oz.craftypics)

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Sabaton / Photo – @oz.craftypics

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It was a night of Metal from two of Sweden’s finest and despite it being a Wednesday night the crowd flowed in from when the doors opened keen to see Sabaton playing for the first time in Adelaide as part of their “Hell And Back Tour” and the return of Amaranthe to Adelaide after touring down under for the first time in 2024. The lineup for the merchandise stall started early and snaked down the stairs, along the floor area and back up the opposite stairs.

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Amaranthe / Photo – @oz.craftypics

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Whilst Amaranthe were billed as a support act a lot of people got there early for them and Hindley St Music Hall was packed by the time they took to the stage at 8pm breaking into ‘Fearless’ as the opener. The three vocalists worked together all set to build the intricate layers and to contrast the clean polished vocals of Elize Ryd and Nils Molin with that of Mikael Sehlin, who was absent on the last tour delivering the growling/ harsh vocals which counteract the harmonies. Flanked on either side of the vocalists were guitarist Olof Mörck’s and bass player Johan Andreassen who is the only member lacking the ability for a hair flick but makes up for it with rock-solid basslines underpinning each track.

Amaranthe founding drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen was stage level under the shadow of the raised stage behind him which housed the drum rig for Sabaton as well as the banks of lights. The trio of vocalists all had raised platforms on which to perform, although the compressed Co2 jets in front of each platform occasionally appear to have been fired at what looked like inopportune moments right into the singers early on. The strength and uniqueness of Amaranthe is the interplay between the vocals and subtle tracks like Amaranthine have Elize taking Centre stage at the start before building and then being accompanied by the male vocals.

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Amaranthe / Photo – @oz.craftypics

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There were plenty of occasions for Elize, Nils and Mickael to release  their hair into a whirlwind flurry sometimes fully synchronised and other times solo with all members showing great energy moving around the stage and feeding off the appreciative crowd.

The setlist which had to be streamlined to fit the timings was pretty much a best of with popular tracks Archangel, The Nexus, Digital World and Strong amongst the set and finishing with undoubtably their biggest hit to date  “ Drop Dead Cynical”. The crowd were genuinely appreciative and there is no doubt that patrons who came for Sabaton would have left with new admiration for Amaranthe if they weren’t already fans.

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Sabaton / Photo – @oz.craftypics

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Changeover was quick with a graphics backdrop swap out and resetting the front stage area. Sabaton is fairly unique in the power metal genre with all their songs having lyrics based on Historical battles, events and human experiences during conflict over many different time periods. This current tour is just prior to the release of their new album “Legends “ which was aptly emblazoned upon a banner on the lower part of the stage.

As the lights dimmed and background music played the band entered to roaring applause. This was the first time Sabaton has ever played in Adelaide and the Wednesday crowd were full of anticipation of the onslaught and didn’t need to wait long for the opening track “Ghost Division” followed by “The Last Stand” and “Red Baron “.

Throughout the whole set the ubiquitous hair flicks were numerous up front with twin Guitarists Chris Rörland and Thobbe Englund and bass player Pär Sundström,  whilst on the raised stage platform, Sabaton drummer Hannes Van Dahl spent the whole gig frequently twirling his sticks and spinning them up it the air between strikes on the kit.  It was a powerhouse performance from all the band members.

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Sabaton / Photo – @oz.craftypics

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Joakim commented that having never played Adelaide before much of their set would be a best of so no surprise that they included the songs “Bismarck”, “Soldier of Heaven”, “Stormtroopers” and “Night Witches”. We did get a track “Hordes of Khan” played from their new album. Sabaton promised they would return to tour again after the new album was released and they lamented that when they toured in Australia with Nightwish they were not invited to be the support in Adelaide.

Mid set Joakim got handed a Pink guitar with Hello Kitty emblazoned on it and then played a few chords of various covers including ‘Smoke On The Water’ with some of the crowd yelling out for him to play some AC/DC before the band finally broke into “Resist and Bite” accompanied by loud rhythmic clapping from the audience .

Nearing the end of the set Joakim told the crowd that he enjoyed when they toured as they could play songs that were relevant to the countries they were performing in. Not being a song they often include in their live sets Joakim accepted an Australian flag from a fan down near the stage draping  it around his neck as they commenced playing “Cliffs of Gallipoli”.

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Sabaton / Photo – @oz.craftypics

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Crowd interaction through their set was next level with superloud singalongs, plenty of fist pumps and a flurry of waving Mobile phones with LED lights illuminated during the more sedate  “Christmas Truce”.

All the members of Sabaton seemed genuinely appreciative of the massive crowd interactions and Joakim commented how the energy hadn’t waned from the start of the set . The performance finished strongly with  “Primo Victoria”,  “Swedish Pagans” and then finishing up to thunderous applause with “To Hell and Back”,  mirroring the 2025 tour title.

Sabaton wont easily forget their first Adelaide experience prior to continuing their Australian and NZ tour and the Adelaide fans will no doubt welcome them back some time in the future on the back of their new Album “ Legends”  which gets released on 17th October 2025.

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Sabaton / Photo – @oz.craftypics

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Check out Michael Selge’s (@oz.craftypics) full gallery of this event HERE

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Sabaton / Photo – @oz.craftypics

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Follow SABATON
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Sabaton / Photo – @oz.craftypics

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Press Release 29th July 2025 (below) HERE

SABATON
to release 11th Studio album
‘LEGENDS’
on October 17

Drops two new singles The Duelist & Lightning At The Gates

Touring Australia This September

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AMNPLIFY – DB