Sabaton - The Last Stand (Bloodstone Marbled & Spartan Sunset Splatter Vinyl)

Bloodstone Marbled & Spartan Sunset Splatter 2LP in Gatefold Sleeve

This tenth-anniversary edition of The Last Stand spreads the album across two LPs, one pressed on bloodstone marbled vinyl and one on spartan sunset splatter, in a gatefold sleeve with a cut-out cover and alternative artwork. The eleven album tracks fill sides A and B, side C holds four bonus covers, and side D carries an etching in place of music. A double-sided motif card is included. Nuclear Blast's notes describe it as the first edition to gather all of the album's bonus tracks in one place.

Those four covers were scattered across the 2016 editions: Stan Ridgway's "Camouflage" and Judas Priest's "All Guns Blazing" on the standard releases, Iron Maiden's "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" on the earbook and Twisted Sister's "Burn in Hell" on the Japanese release.

The Last Stand was Sabaton's eighth album, released by Nuclear Blast on August 19, 2016. Peter Tägtgren produced it at The Abyss in Pärlby, Sweden, in April and May 2016, and Jonas Kjellgren mastered it. Joakim Brodén, Pär Sundström, Chris Rörland, Thobbe Englund and Hannes Van Dahl made up the lineup. It was Englund's last album before an eight-year absence from the band, which ended when he rejoined in 2024.

Each song takes up a battle in which an outnumbered force held its ground, from Thermopylae on "Sparta" and Bannockburn in 1314 to the Swiss Guard at the Sack of Rome in 1527 on the title track and the defense of Castle Itter in May 1945 on "The Last Battle." Brodén has said the idea of a last stand had always fascinated him.

The album reached No. 1 in Sweden, Finland and Switzerland and No. 2 in Germany, Austria and Poland, and it was certified gold in five countries, Sweden and Germany among them. "The Lost Battalion," "Blood of Bannockburn" and "Shiroyama" were released as singles ahead of it.

Tracklist

LP 1, Side A

1. Sparta
2. Last Dying Breath
3. Blood of Bannockburn
4. Diary of an Unknown Soldier
5. The Lost Battalion
6. Rorke's Drift

LP 1, Side B

7. The Last Stand
8. Hill 3234
9. Shiroyama
10. Winged Hussars
11. The Last Battle

LP 2, Side C (Bonus)

12. Camouflage
13. All Guns Blazing
14. Afraid to Shoot Strangers
15. Burn in Hell

LP 2, Side D

Etching