''Primo Victoria'' (Latin for "Victory First") is the debut studio album by Swedish

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within a symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in co ...

band

Sabaton A sabaton or solleret is part of a knight's body armour, body armor that covers the foot. History Sabatons from the 14th and 15th centuries typically end in a tapered point well past the actual toes of the wearer's foot, following poulaines, f ...

. The band had previously recorded the full-length album ''

Metalizer ''Metalizer'' is the third full-length release by Swedish power metal band Sabaton, but was actually recorded as their professional debut album (second overall) in 2002. The band's first record company, Underground Symphony, withheld the recordin ...

'' with Italian label

Underground Symphony Underground Symphony is an Italian record label specialised in metal productions. It is best known for having launched artists such as Labyrinth, Skylark, White Skull, Fabio Lione Fabio Tordiglione (born 9 October 1973), known professional ...

, but due to conflicts its release was delayed until 2007. ''Primo Victoria'' instead became Sabaton's debut album, recorded in 2004 in Abyss Studios, and released the following year with their new label, Black Lodge Records. In 2010 the album was re-released on German label

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

, with six additional bonus tracks, under the name ''Primo Victoria Re-Armed''. The re-release reached 43rd place in the Swedish album charts.

Lyrics

Sabaton used themes of war history in ''Primo Victoria'', a style they have continued ever since. According to singer

Joakim Brodén Joakim "Jocke" Brodén (born 5 October 1980) is a Swedish musician who is the lead vocalist, keyboardist and occasional third guitarist of the power metal band Sabaton. He and bassist Pär Sundström formed the band in 1999. Early life Brodén ...

, he and bass player Pär Sundström had written the music for the title track, but were missing lyrics. Because they felt the song had a "big sound", they wanted a big subject, and chose the allied invasion of Normandy during World War II. Having to do some research on the historic events, they decided they liked the meaning that the subject added to the song, and decided to give the whole album a war history theme.

Track listing

Personnel

– lead vocals and keyboard * Rickard Sundén – guitar and backing vocals * Oskar Montelius – guitar and backing vocals * Pär Sundström – bass guitar * Daniel Mullback – drums

"Second Battalion" and "Amphibious Battalion"

The band was commissioned by members of the

Norwegian Army 2nd Battalion The 2nd Battalion (; abbreviated as 2BN) is an infantry unit of the Norwegian Army, based at camp Skjold (garrison), Skjold in Troms county in Northern Norway. It serves in the light infantry role specialized in Arctic warfare as part of Brigade N ...

to make an alternative version of ''Panzer Battalion''. The alternate version, called ''Second Battalion'', differs only in that the lyric "Second Battalion" is sung in place of "Panzer Battalion". The band also later created another alternate version of Panzer Battalion named Amphibious Battalion for the Swedish marines fighting in Chad as a part of EUFOR.

Covers

* German

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

metal group

Van Canto Van Canto (sometimes stylized as van Canto) is a German a cappella metal band, founded in 2006 and composed of six singers and a drummer. While only two of the singers perform the lead vocals, the other four use their voices to imitate the guit ...

covered "Primo Victoria" on their fourth studio album '' Break the Silence'' in 2011, with Sabaton frontman Joakim Brodén appearing as a guest vocalist and in the

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

Cross-promotion with Wargaming

As part of Nuclear Blast's 30th anniversary, in 2017, Sabaton announced through their website that they were beginning a long-term collaboration with

Wargaming A normal wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to st ...

. The band stated they often play ''

World of Tanks ''World of Tanks'' (''WoT'') is an armoured warfare-themed multiplayer online game developed by Wargaming, featuring 20th century (1910s–1970s) era combat vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play ...

'' between shows. This collaboration resulted in the filming of a

for the song "Primo Victoria", as well as the custom-painted

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

Strv 81 featured in the video being made available for purchase in ''World of Tanks''.

Charts

References

External links

*
"Primo Victoria" music video
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel
''Primo Victoria'' music video and lyrics
on ''Blogul lui Laivindur'' website {{Authority control 2005 debut albums Sabaton (band) albums