This is absolutely my favorite song of the album. Such a majestic chorus, I just can't comprehend how Sabaton does this. They're already legends. Here is a littlebit info about King Albert I and the Battle of Yser: At the start of World War I, Albert refused to comply with Germany's request for safe passage for its troops through Belgium in order to attack France, which the Germans alleged was about to advance into Belgium en route to attacking Germany in support of Russia. In fact, the French government had told its army commander not to go into Belgium before a German invasion. The German invasion brought Britain into the war as one of the guarantors of Belgian neutrality under the Treaty of 1839. King Albert, as prescribed by the Belgian constitution, took personal command of the Belgian Army, and held the Germans off long enough for Britain and France to prepare for the Battle of the Marne (6-9 September 1914). He led his army through the Siege of Antwerp (28 September - 10 October 1914) and the Battle of the Yser (16-31 October 1914), when the Belgian Army was driven back to a last, tiny strip of Belgian territory near the North Sea. Here the Belgians, in collaboration with the armies of the Triple Entente, took up a war of position, in the trenches behind the River Yser, remaining there for the next four years. During this period, King Albert fought alongside his troops and shared their dangers, while his wife, Queen Elisabeth, worked as a nurse at the front. During his time on the front, rumours spread on both sides of the lines that the German soldiers never fired upon him out of respect for him being the highest ranked commander in harm's way, while others feared risking punishment by the Kaiser himself, who was his cousin. The King also allowed his 12-year-old son, Prince Leopold, to enlist in the Belgian Army as a private and fight in the ranks. In the final offensive of the war, he commanded the Groupe d'Armées des Flandres at the Fifth Battle of Ypres. On 21 October, the Germans established a small bridgehead on the west bank, despite a counter-attack by the French 42nd Division, which had just arrived and the last bridge was blown on 23 October. Diksmuide was constantly bombarded and attacked but the defenders managed to hold on. Grand Quartier Général, the French high command, planned to flood the land to obstruct the Germans, which would trap the Belgian army between the flood and the Germans or force them to abandon the last part of unoccupied Belgium. The plan was postponed because the Belgian army was preparing to flood the area between the Yser and its tributary canals. On 25 October, the German pressure on the Belgians was so great that a decision was taken to inundate the Belgian front line. After an abortive attempt on 21 October, the Belgians managed to open the sluices at Nieuwpoort during the nights of 26-30 October, during high tides, steadily raising the water level until an impassable flooded area was created of about one mi (2 km) wide, stretching as far south as Diksmuide. The Germans attacked again on the Yser front on 30 October, overran the Belgian second line and reached Ramskapelle and Pervijze. Belgian and French counter-attacks recovered Ramskapelle and the final attack, planned for the next day was called off when the Germans realised that the land behind them was flooding. The Germans withdrew in the night of 30/31 October. On 10 November, Diksmuide fell and the fighting continued further south until 22 November, in the First Battle of Ypres. The victory at the Yser allowed Belgium to retain a small strip of territory, with Germany in control of 95 per cent of Belgian territory, which made King Albert a Belgian national hero, sustained national pride and provided a venue for commemorations of heroic sacrifice for the next hundred years. The King Albert I Memorial in Nieuwpoort is dedicated to king Albert and the Belgian troops during the Great War. Race to the sea topic is pretty large topic, so I leave it to you to learn and study 😉

when they play this song in Antwerp Belgium I know the whole crowd will yell We're free

The dam is just theatrical, they opend all the floodlocks so the fields would flood. it was seawater that flooded the fields sinds the Yser is a river that floods into the north sea at the town of Nieuwpoort. At the Battle of the Yser the Belgian army took their positions behind the Yser thus resulting in the end of the race to the sea

NOW YOU SEE WHY HE WAS NICKNAME THE SOLDER KING, ALSO HIS WIFE HELP TOO IN THE WAR WORKING AS A NURSE

After this event king Albert I was nicknamed "the knight-king" by the allied.

Everyone in the band can sing. Chris and Tommy took on singing duties when Joakim got laryngitis during a show. All of them can sing,.

All of the Sabaton guys sings backing vocals there. And one of the guitar players, Tommy Johansson (the big guy without beard at the left) is an awesome singer. He has his own channel and is lead singer of another band, Majestica. Pls react to Above the sky

Honestly? I cried when I heard this song bc it's both this triumph, but one with this undercurrent of sorrow. It has such defiance and fierceness, but one that is soooo bittersweet. It also just made me so PROUD of Belgium. And proud of the their "Soldier King" Albert I. The music is like the dam busting open and the chorus like the flow of a raging river. The drums really also made me think of the pounding of water against rock as well. So musically they captured the event well, while also injecting it with those feelings of defiance and heartbreak at losing their country. It also really made me think about a certain event in eastern Europe right now. P.S. I can't be sure but it looks like they stuck Pär on a box because everyone else is waist deep in the water while it only comes up to his knees.

Is it finally time for LADY OF THE DARK!? You'll absolutely LOVE this song Dave... amazing story, amazing lyrics, amazing verses, amazing chorus... amazing song all around.

God Sabaton have refined the formula on this new album, each and every track is a total banger in it's own way!

greetings from belgium Dave! for king & for country. Sabaton is amazing. thanks for your reactions!

The Belgium war stories in sabaton’s hands are fucking bangers, Stanton’s skill is so good they make you patriotic for countries you are not from

Joakim bashing the water is great haha xD

Please react to En Livstid I Krig (Live - The Great Tour - Gothenburg), and don't forget to activate the CC's. In the light of what is happening, this is the perfect song.

well you actually got it all around, back in the times the Leaders and Monarchs usually led their troops into battle themselves, if they actually fought on the front lines is another thing While WW2 saw so many dead people because of pure evil and aimed extermination of life the reason so many soldiers died in WW1was because of the total disregard of human life on the side of commanders and the higher ups, throwing thousands upon thousands of soldiers on the enemy without care, mostly because the command was sitting back Home in their chairs and did not understand the conditions on the front lines

Imagine seeing our leaders and presidents today actually fighting in their own battles

This album was released at the appropriate time... when I listen to this song I think of the brave and valiant warriors of Ukraine at this very hour.

This is one of my favorites on the album along with Sarajevo/Versailles and Stormtroopers. See a king and a soldier fighting shoulder to shoulder.

I know this is almost a year later but did you the The King of Belgium is not referred to as such the Sovereign of Belgium is actually referred to as the King of the people of Belgium because back in the day the Royal family of Belgium thought the nation belongs to the people and the people serve the crown. So, in essence they put themselves at a lower tier then their subjects making sure the the people could hold them accountable if needed.

This is one of my two favourite songs of that album. Good reaction, keep going)

Another brilliant song from Sabaton! Chris and Tommy sing and I suspect Hannes has joined in of late, Par not so much, not often.

dang full on sabaton today

An history trivia. The last battle were rulers were at the heads of their armies on both sides was the battle of Solferino and Saint. Martin in Lombardy, 1859. The battle was the culmination of the second italian war of indipendence and involved Piedmontese and French forces AGAINST AustroHungarians forces. And yes the ruling austrian dude was the same as in ww1

Awesome.

saboton are from sweden!!! i am from sweden!!! i love it!!!

Very late for this, so you likely have already looked into it, but pre-mass-anti-cavalry warfare monarchs and nobles were actually *very* involved in battles, as it was a way for them to gain personal glory and prove their strength in international disputes. IIRC, after the Battle of the Golden Spurs and the death of many, many mounted French nobles at the hands of mass-pike-wielding Dutch peasants, European monarchs and nobles started taking a step back from direct frontline combat and took on more backline commanding, especially after firearms and artillery supplanted pikes and melee warfare, though they still were involved from time to time. By the time WW1 rolled around, monarchs had completely withdrawn from the battlefield due to the accuracy and precision of firearms making it far easier for a low-born soldier to decapitate a state without fear of swift retaliation.

I really love ur channel 🔥 Cheers from Brazil 🇧🇷

Nice video 👌

sabaton does have a studio choir consisting of people they have known from before forming the band, joakim talked about it on charismatic voice's tea time interview with him, but ofc pär, chris, tommy and hannes also contribute with their voices in the studio, all of them pär, chris and tommy also does it live, hannes is too occupied with the drumming to do any proper singing, he isnt like mike portnoy (formerly drummer of dream theater) that can sing and drum at the same. on live shows they have only had a choir on stage while they did their great tour in 2019-2020, prior to that they have only used prerecorded choir and live singing from the other band members

The frame rate of your head banging is amazing

The German plan was roll over the Belgians in a few days, cross into France, surround Paris, and end the war in a few months. Instead, they ended up fighting the Belgians on the muddy banks of the Yser river for almost the entire war.

That Guy With The sunglasses looks like duke nukem isn’t he?

When will you check out The Valley of Death

eurpian kings are more or less known by fithing whit the orginaly soldier side by side so im just gope that the couse to day to ^^

This story sounds familiar doesn't it😉 history rhymes

Great song. Man.. Please check of ARKA'N- Tears of the Dead. It's a band from Africa..

ecklipse the masquuerde!!

Metallica, Broken beat and scarred :)

try eklipse swedich lite harrdrock