Swedish Heavy Metal band Sabaton have released a new version of Templars featuring Pop Evil frontman Leigh Kakaty. The collaboration follows the original song’s appearance on Sabaton’s 2025 album Legends and arrives ahead of a North American tour featuring Pop Evil and Wings Of Steel. Sabaton and Kakaty debuted the new version live at Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky.
Kakaty adds a fresh vocal presence to the track, joining the band over its massed distortion, thunderous drums and chant-led chorus. “Templars was a hit with our fans when we dropped it last year to introduce our 11th studio album, Legends,” Sabaton vocalist Joakim Brodén said. “This year, we wanted to do something a little different with it, and teaming up with our North American tour mates, Pop Evil, just made perfect sense.”
Bassist Pär Sundström said the band have always enjoyed finding new ways to revisit their music. “Leigh’s take on the track brings a different attitude,” he said. “It’s exciting to see one of our songs evolve like this.”
Kakaty was drawn to Sabaton’s gift for bringing history to life and to the song’s ideas of loyalty, purpose and standing by what you believe in. “Collaborating on a song with such strong storytelling was a real privilege,” Kakaty said. “Heading out on tour together in the fall makes the track feel even more special for me.”
Legends On Tour
The release follows Yamato, Sabaton’s collaboration with World Of Warships developer Wargaming. Sabaton previously worked with the game on Bismarck in 2019.
The band’s latest album, Legends, was released in October 2025. It marked a shift beyond Sabaton’s recent focus on the First and Second World Wars, while maintaining the anthemic Power Metal storytelling that has defined their career.
Sabaton’s North American Legends On Tour run begins on 23 September in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and concludes on 12 December in Fort Lauderdale. The band will return to the UK and Europe in April and May 2027 with The Legendary Orchestra.
Sabaton 2027 UK And European Tour Dates
- 7 April – 3Arena, Dublin, Ireland
- 9 April – OVO Hydro, Glasgow, UK
- 10 April – bp pulse LIVE, Birmingham, UK
- 12 April – Zenith Metropole, Nantes, France
- 13 April – Zenith Metropole, Toulouse, France
- 15 April – MEO Arena, Lisbon, Portugal
- 19 April – Unipol Forum, Milan, Italy
- 20 April – Arène de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
- 22 April – PSD Bank Arena, Nuremberg, Germany
- 23 April – PSD Bank Dome, Düsseldorf, Germany
- 24 April – Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- 26 April – SAP Arena, Mannheim, Germany
- 27 April – Quarterback Immobilien Arena, Leipzig, Germany
- 28 April – Barclays Arena, Hamburg, Germany
- 30 April – Stadthalle, Graz, Austria
- 1 May – MVM Dome, Budapest, Hungary
- 2 May – O2 Arena, Prague, Czech Republic
- 4 May – Tipos Arena, Bratislava, Slovakia
- 5 May – Atlas Arena, Łódź, Poland
- 7 May – Unibet Arena, Tallinn, Estonia
- 8 May – Veikkaus Arena, Helsinki, Finland
