Classical Composer Reacts to Christmas Truce (Sabaton) | The Daily Doug (Episode 292) 

Sabaton just casually dropping one of the greatest Christmas songs of all time.

Pär: "We need some powerful female vocal to end credits" Hannes: "I've got one at home"

One of the best and most important pieces Sabaton ever wrote, and Floors ending is the finest cherry on the christmas cake

"the sabaton rabbit hole" is real, its a very strong drug, a single taste and you are addicted... After this react, people will ask you like crazy to react to more sabaton, and trust me, you will like it, everyone does.

Doug: *reacts to Sabaton* Sabaton-fans: "We got another one, guys!" Yes, Sabaton always have great cinematography. It comes with being one of the biggest bands out there right now, not to mention having big sponsors that make music videos for them (e.g. Wargaming for their video on Bismarck). The band tends to highlight people and events that have been largely forgotten, or are just not talked about in great detail, aside from more well-known stuff. And they take the time to thoroughly research the topics they want to sing about.

Hannes the drummer is married to Floor. Almost all of Sabaton's music is history/war related. Ghost Division live in 2012 is another great one from them

I can really recommend their song "en livstid I krig", a lifetime of war. Performed live in Göteborg (Sweden) together with the audience. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WBs3G1PvyfM.html The lyrics is about one of the bloodiest wars the Swedish army ever participated in. It is an emotional song about those men who were forced by orders from our king Gustav II Adolf to leave their families and friends in Scandinavia to fight a war in central Europe. A war that lasted for almost 30 years and the song really tries to capture the emotions and hardships these men endured during these times.

Floor Jansen is married to the drummer. I can really recommend listening to their songs. Been a fan since the early 2000's and they are rather unique in their sound and I love their history lessons with each song they make :)

It makes sense that Floor Jansen would do the vocals on the end credits. She is married to the drummer of Sabaton.

Credit to Sabaton for telling this story with their music & video. Floor’s vocal adds so much to this song. LEST WE FORGET.

I'm not musically inclined, but I like how you broke it down and explained the composition without talking down to us uneducated heathens. 😎

Fun fact the opening is played in reverse octave cos it was to symbolize the hopelessness of war. It's played in it's proper configuration later on to symbolize the moment of peace experienced during the Christmas Truce.

Bismarck, Primo Victoria, Panzer Battalion, Ghost Division, The Red Baron, No Bullets Fly, countless others. Check out more from them please

The tagline for their last album read, "The Great War: What's so fucking great about it?" I was dearly hoping you'd discover Sabaton eventually. They write about war, but they do it very respectfully and they never lose sight of the fact that it is horrible and should not happen.

Joakim's voice is on another plane when it comes to sheer portrayal of angst and existential dread. Able to flow smoothly from hopeless foreboding to icy terror to a maddening rage. Without his voice there wouldn't be a Sabaton... just a band that performed historical music. His voice puts you into the shoes of the men that he honors.

Hannes Van Dahl (drummer) is Floor Jansen's husband. I want a proper collaboration with Sabaton and Nightwish so bad. A symphonic power metal track, what a mix that could be as both bands already have that epic and grandness aspect to their music already.

Congratulations on actually watching to the end and discovering that the soprano was Floor - not all reactors have done! Most of Sabaton's songs are in a similar vein - as suggested previously try Ghost Division or 40 to 1 or Uprising all from the 2012 Polish Woodstock concert - an audience of somewhere around 500,000 people singing along. Frightening! Great reaction! For another version of Carol of the bells, you might enjoy Lindsey Stirling's violin treatment: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EKkzbbLYPuI.html

As a veteran, Sabaton IMO are true warrior poets. Their music at times brings me to tears and brings peace to my soul. They put into music what it means to be "the few". Duty, honor, sacrifice.

Sabaton are a big band these days. They really exploded on the scene internationally in the last several years, though I've been a fan since their album Primo Victoria dropped 20 years ago. Like pretty much everyone else has said they sing a put real world military history/battles/events/individuals. Vocalist Jaokim Broden composes the majority of the music with bassist Par Sundstrom and they are the only two remaining originL members. Chris Rorland came to the band as a former band mate of Par's in Nocturnal Rites and Tommy (guitars) is a multi-instrument artist who has his own band Majestica. Hannes Van Dahl came from Gothenburg based dark progressive metal band Evergrey (well worth checking out!). The band has played to over 600,000 fans on a WW2 battlefield outside of Warsaw, Poland, has put out 8 studio LPS, 12eps, 4 live albums, 1 History Edition of The Great War with opening narrations for each song and 1 Soundtrack Edition of The Great War which is an all orchestral score to their album of the same name.

Tommy, the guitarist, has another band Majestica and they released a whole christmas theme metal album called A Christmas Carol, it's a concept album telling the christmas carol story Check it out in your spare time

me when i hear the words "sabaton" and "i'v not heard of them before" i know its gonna be a great video, another great song by sabaton i think you'd enjoy, Ballad of the Bull.

Thank you for the review, I'm a huge Sabaton fan as I am a bit of a history nerd and a veteran. The fact that this truce happened over 100 years ago makes my hair stand up. I am an Australian veteran and I can assure you, like all veterans, we would dearly love "my war" to be the one to end wars yet here we are, being sent by old men who dislike their opposite number's politics, ideology or basically driven by greed, to send young men who don't know each other, or even necessarily dislike each other in the case of this video, to go to foreign lands to kill each other! Why are we still doing this to each other? Nothing is gained, there are no winners, only broken minds and bodies and a lifetime of dealing with the horrors we've inflicted on innocent populations who have done nothing more than live in a land that someone else decides to rape. It makes me incredibly sad knowing that my mates and I have done nothing to change this, despite our years of sacrifice :(

Oh this one was a cool bonus, and a very fresh one! Sabaton is a nice Swedish power metal band that mostly have on their lyrical repertoire historical events, definitely worth exploring more later on. Oh and their drummer, Hannes, is married with Floor Jansen. You can hear her singing in the very end.

If you can't imagine yourself firing on an enemy, you should react to Sabaton's No Bullets Fky next (the yarn hub animated version is best). Really great story about a German solider sparing/saving the lives of an enemy B17F crew.

The pure musical genius of Sabaton can't be overstated. Their music is some of the best I've ever heard in my life.

Unironically, I feel that Christmas Truce is the best Christmas song I've ever heard. It's not a song about commercialism, there's no Santa or his reindeer, no religion. Just people. People, who are on opposite sides of the battle field in the largest war ever fought in history up to that point putting down their weapons and coming together. I truly can think of no better example of the 'magic' of Christmas than that.

Sabaton’s other channel, Sabaton History, is a great educational resource exploring the events behind the songs. What kind of band produces a history channel? 😁

I cannot wait for the new album. One of the singles is Lady Of The Dark. It is about Milunka Savic. She is a Serbian heroine and the most decorated female combatant of all time. She fought in the Balkan Wars and then World War 1 and was quite proficient at combat.

I am jacked. Been asking for a sabaton reaction since day 1 so happy. Doug there are so many songs that would trip your trigger. No Bullets Fly really pulled Tears from my eyes watch the official vid.

Sabaton never disappoints. Maybe check out To Hell and Back, Primo Victoria, Carolus Rex, or just about any other of their songs

And now we just need Valhalleluja... I mean, it's christmas, c'mon

"A band where everyone sings." Heck, they even got the drummer's wife to sing the end credits.

Nice catch that that the Carol of the Bells part was turned around to go up at first, then switching to go back down and sound more mournful near the end. I would never have noticed that unless you had pointed it out. Very nice touch to tie the music to the story the lyrics tell, one feeding into the other. I also like the dissonance in the instrumental middle section as Hannes/the german soldier remembers some of the horrors he's seen even as both side are talking peacefully around him. A moment of peace in a war that never ends indeed.

When I first heard this song on the day of release, I was in a coffee shop; I was openly weeping by the end. It's one of the best pieces of music that Sabaton has ever composed, and the "only" Christmas song that I'll voluntarily listen to from the modern era. And as you mentioned, I cannot even FATHOM the courage one would need to have to be the first to step out of the trenches, holding your hat by way of parley...

This is a great anthem of humanity in the hardest of situations. And then there's Floor 💗🌷. Merry Christmas from Finland, Doug! 🎅⛄🎄👍

Thank you for doing this one Doug. I thought you'd like this recommendation. I see that you noticed Floor Jansen in the credits at the end, she's doing the vocal outro. She is married to Hannes Van Dahl, the drummer in Sabaton

The soldiers started realizing that they had more in common with the soldiers on the other side than with their own leaders. And many of them were punished for it 😕

New subscriber here. I have been a regular "The Charismatic Voice" watcher for the vocal breakdown. The Daily Doug is now my go to for the music breakdown. Well done Doug. Nice critique. Thank you.

There are a couple versions of the Great War album; the album itself, the History version, and the 'Soundtrack to the Great War' version where the songs are arranged and played by a full orchestra and choir, with Floor singing 'The Future of Warfare'.

The sabaton rabbit hole is a real thing… they have a load of fantastic songs

I love that you're a classical composer reacting to heavy metal. I'm a classically trained oboist, going to school for my BA in music. My fiancée introduced me to Sabaton and was certain I wouldn't like it because it's metal and I'm classically trained. How wrong he was! Being classically trained has helped me better appreciate other genres of music. We went to a Sabaton concert in October, and it was so awesome! I told him that if I had been taught history alongside or through Sabaton songs, I probably would've remembered history way better 🤣

Hi Doug. Your facial expression was hilarious when you heard Floor Jansen. Well noticed. Have a merry Christmas.

Certainly a time for reflection, you might be very interested to hear that the guy playing the guitar (Tommy Johansson), has produced (with his own band Majestica) one of the best Christmas songs I have ever heard, titled "The joy of Christmas", would love you to react to that piece..

Every Sabaton song is basically a history lesson set to metal.

MORE SABATON!!! Those guys are great! Unique sound.

I just discovered this band a year ago, and have a been a fan ever since, love their salute to history and bring it to life with their music

12:55 We also need you, reacting more from sabaton!

Sabaton covers history and they treat every song with the great respect the subject matter deserves. For more great songs where you'll want to watch the whole video I'd recommend No Bullets Fly, Bismark, Carolus Rex, Winged Hussars, and Night Witches. Have a great Christmas Doug!

Just love the content of your reaction! I have “lived” with Sabaton for many years and I just love when others like them too! Underrated for years, but seems they start to get the worldwide attention they deserve ❤

Sabaton - icing on the cake. I love them and have seen them in concert here in the UK. Thank you Doug, glad you loved it. Now - watch Lady of the Dark and Bismarck.

Powerful Song by a Great band , and a little of Floor Jansen's magic .... PERFECTION 🤘😎🤘. New sub here . NWSU .

Oh yes, if they get hundred thousand people in the audience, this chorus is going to be chanted by a hundred thousand people, and it will be epic. Sabaton has some of the best crowd chants, the songs are explicitly written for crowd participation, and the band is even getting better at it over time.

Wow, just wow. Brilliant song, thanks Doug and your followers for introducing me to yet another band. First Nightwish and now Sabaton!

#TheDailyDoug - as a retired military officer and combat veteran of Afghanistan & Iraq, I must say that this song is superb and very personal and relevant to me. Look at they symbolism - these guys would never be trying to kill one another if their governments had not told them to do so. But this was also was when war was between gentlemen. Also why it can easily be said that war is made by governments and suffered by men. It also shows that this is why war is something to be avoided. Best Regards, Major Harold Overton, US Air Force (retired)

Every one of those songs is like a history lesson. Since their first album was finished they went to focusing on military history and they do an excellent job in every song they write. I’m new to them, just got an earful of them with uprising last summer about the Polish Jews uprising against the Nazis. Great band, definitely check out more of them. With their theme of military history they will never run out of writing material.

I first heard this song in the car after I had set a Christmas metal tunes on Spotify. Goosebumps all over. I was on the freeway and had to stop at the nearest gas station so I could relisten to the song propperly. One of, it not the, best Metal Christmas tunes of all time.

I absolutely cannot wait to see you react to more of Sabaton's songs! I cannot possibly "only" recommend a single song. They have way too many amazingly powerful songs. But I guess if I'd have to name one, it would be Primo Victoria, which is the first song I ever heard of Sabaton, and made me fall in love with the band at an instant.

If you want another powerful ballad from them I'd recommend The Ballad of Bull, but can't go wrong with most of their catalog. So many great stories kept alive with their music.

I recommend you to watch and listen to Sabaton's version of Motörhead's 1916. It's very strong, powerful and impressive. You can't describe it, it goes straight to your soul.

Doug, I would love to see you react to Sabaton - En livstid i krig (a lifetime of war) live from Gothenburg. In that video, you will really se how sabaton is live and the interaction you get from the audience.

Thanks Doug - glad you succumbed to all our pestering to react to this!!! As others have suggested, there are tons of other great Sabaton tracks/videos worth putting on your list. First personal recommendation would be to check out their music vids where they have teamed up with animators which adds another element/story to their songs - start with No Bullets Fly (another example of the awesome power of humanity during war)!!! Cheers

I think almost all of the sabaton discography has war or heroic deeds as a concept. Great band. As a Greek I would suggest the song "Sparta" talking about the battle at the Hot gates. Peace y'all.

Sabaton are just amazing. Historical metal band. I highly recommend Bismarck by them as well.

Everything these guys do is on an UNRIVALED epic scale, especially their music videos. Check out Bismarck or Fields of Verdun, Ghost Division, Night Witches, Primo Victoria, Steel Commanders, Cliffs of Gallipoli...all testaments to the strength, determination, resolve and sacrifices of our forefathers.

When you realise that's Floor ❣doing outro ... Great reaction to the great piece of music. Thank you Doug Have a Merry Christmas 🎄 Greetings from Poland

Please keep going with the Sabaton! If you ever do their live videos, you'll find that Joakim gets really creative with his vocals sometimes and just sings a tune without any lyrics as a form of embellishment. It's awesome since he has such a powerful voice to do it with.

Great reaction on this Swedish band. Thank you!

the Germans started to sing Stille nacht ( Holy night) and soon the Brits started too,The Germans brought beer and the Brits whiskey Many of the soldiers where punished courtmarshalled for this truce the german soldier decided to communicate with the British and they too did the same and from there they played games etc throughout Christmas the next day at least 2 whole companys had to be transferred to another frontline as the soldiers refused to fire on each other. Humanity in all Inhumanity war is such a waste of lifes

Welcome to 'Sabaton crew' Doug....🇸🇪

Welcome to Sabaton, my friend. Theur songs hit hard in MANY ways. I think you'd like their song "Father" the melody and vocals have this sort of conflicting tone of hope and fear that really highlights the subject matter. I think you could really appreciate it.

Great reaction, I love hearing knowledgeable people talk about their craft!

Im sure its was said below..Floor is married to the drummer Hannes of Sabaton...the is a monument in Belgium for this event.

As someone who knows nothing about music but loves Sabaton, you showed me a lot of very interesting things is this video. Thankyou.

I knew this one didn't get blocked Sabaton loves having their music shared

"Oh so la fa" - Thanks for reminding me of the Sound of Music, a tradition to watch on new years eve. :D

YES! I was hoping for this! Every time i listen to this song i feel the shrapnel hitting my eyes. This song will be on our xmas playlist for sure

Such a strong and emotional song. Chills when the piano starts and when Floor sings the outro.

my recommendation for your next one from these guys is either To Hell and Back or Carolus Rex. For Carolus Rex I would Specifically recommend to react to the English studio version first and then react to the live Swedish version in Stockholm from the Great War tour with Apocalyptica

Wow indeed! Had me in tears, such a beautiful sound.

I'm extremely happy you did too Doug!!! Merry Christmas!! 2022 will be a great year for your channel especially with more sabaton

Always love your informed analysis Doug - a great watch.

Wow, what a powerful piece. I'm always in awe when listening to you, I love how you'll just pick a note and name it. You know your craft so well, and your admiration of everything that you hear is wonderful to watch.

"I'm sure the War felt like it was never ending." Everyone who was a part of it at this time had thought it would already be over by this point. Instead, the front had devolved into a nearly static meatgrinder.

Doug, I think I speak for many when I say you need to react to a album called “Operation: Mindcrime” by a band called Queensrÿche. It’s an incredible story album that needs to be listened to all the way throughout. Geoff tate, the lead singer for Queensrÿche, is one of the best rock vocalist IMO. Do yourself a favor and listen.

I love you, man. You bring me a lot of joy during a difficult time. Respect

SO SO SO glad you did this one. I was hoping to learn some more about what was going on. I LOVE Sabaton, seen them live many times. Thanks for providing some great depth into a great song!

Love your reaction and your information you share. Now i will look into all your videos. Thank you!

This band iv listened to many times as I came across them by accident while surfing the internet this song I can't get enough of it is powerful but true.

Loved the emotions playing on your face as you were listening and moving to the rhythm! And you are absolutely right that this is an amazing piece of art, not just music but cinematography, as well. This is your first video that I have watched, and I am glad to have made an acquaintance!

I'm guessing the version with Floor will be on an extra disc called "the soundtrack version", just like they did with The Great War album.

Great that you not stopped…

Thank you!! I discovered Sabaton earlier this year while watching history documentaries and they have inspired me like no other band has--the stories they tell are all true. They have a great ability to match the lyrics and the music and it is powerful.

I´ve discovered this song 2 days ago, and have heard it about 10 times already, and it still brings me to tears every time.

its great to hear someone analize a great song that actually knows what they are talking about i learned a lot from this and didnt realize a lot of tricks used in this song on my own, thank you, great video and impressive knowledge from you there.

In case anyone watches this now: This is based on a true story. December 1914, the start of the Great War, over a million lives already lost. On the front lines an unauthorized truce was made between the sides for 1 night only. All sides came together to celebrate christmas. And many had to be sent to different locations after when they would refuse to kill the enemy after having gotten to know them.

Relatively late to the metal scene, I would sometimes put on a Spotify channel at work and Sabaton would come up and impress me musically and thematically. They tend to feature (I don't know the band well, so they may EXCLUSIVELY feature) songs of military and war history. My favorite song before this one was Ghost Division. Later I "re-discovered" Nightwish with Floor as vocalist, then learned that Hannes is her husband so when I saw this I knew him immediately. Now I'll embark on a Sabaton rabbit-hole via RU-vid and learn this band's members and main body of work. Thanks for your reaction. Your response ratifies the YEARS Sabaton took to make this as they struggled to write it to perfection and not just barf it out as a half-baked rendition of what they wanted to impart.

Thank you sir. Excellent analysis. I look forward to more from you.

WOW!!!!! What a powerful song , message.....and the movie qulity in addition to that!!!

Holy moly. I clicked for the Sabaton reaction but I am subscribing for your insight! I was very into composing during high school and wish I had kept up with it.

What an AMAZING 🌟CHRISTMAS🌟 Song by SABATON. The lyrics and the MUSIC inspire You. And the Video, Unbelievable. All Band Members play a Role. Also the HUSBAND from FLOOR JANSEN, The DRUMMER van SABATON, HANNES VAN DAHL. He was the wounded SOLDIER. It's also a piece of history. You can learn a lot. It's very...... EMOTIONAL 😢 And at the end the Voice of FLOOR JANSEN, makes it extra Beautiful...💫 This a Gift for Christmas ☃️🎄🕊️ We are all.... We are all.... We are all.... We are all.... FRIENDS 🤝🤝 For Me The CHRISTMAS SONG of the Year 2021...💫 A little PEACE 🕊 and LOVE ❤️ for Everyone 🌹 WARS are TERRIBLE... Let's all think a little bit about 🌟 CHRISTMAS TRUCE🌟 during the CHRISTMAS Season, this is so often FORGOTTEN!!!! Thank you this was AMAZING. Love and Peace 🕊 Love from the Netherlands ️❤️🤍💙 🇳🇱 🙋🏼‍♀️