Swedish power metal band Sabaton have made the song "Uprising", from their upcoming CD Coat of Arms, available for streaming. It serves as a preview to the album and the in-production video for the song, which would indicate that Sabaton intend to release "Uprising" as a single.

The song deals with the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, an attempt by the Polish Underground to liberate Poland's capital city from the German Army during the Second World War. After bitter fighting, the resistance came to an end two months later with the Nazis still in control of the city. Over 150,000 Poles were killed (most of them civilians), and the Nazis lost 16,000 soldiers. In retaliation, Nazi hierarchy ordered that the city be razed to the ground - every house, every church, library, school, university, and museum. The deteriorating war for Germany meant that their plan wouldn't be finished; but when the Soviet Army entered  the city in January 1945, Warsaw was 85% destroyed. 

Accordingly, Sabaton have prepared something special for "Uprising". The video will be filmed on location, and features Swedish actor Peter Stormare as SS-Obergruppenführer Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, the commander of the German forces in Warsaw during the uprising. Sabaton have promised that, in terms of production, the video for "Uprising" will be their most ambitious effort yet. 

But since all we have for now is the music, how does the song sound? After a brief keyboard intro (much like the already-previewed title track), the song launches forward, with vocalist Joakim Brodén calling out "Warsaw rise!" Unlike the title track, "Uprising" is a midtempo song, but still features a heavy keyboard presence and a huge singalong chorus ("War-saw! City at war! Voices from underground/Whispers of freedom"). It's classic Sabaton, a history lesson set to fist-pumping and headbanging. 

Based on the two songs from Coat of Arms that have been previewed thus far, Sabaton haven't reinvented the wheel. All the hallmarks of their brand of power metal are well-preserved (and maybe even expanded on a bit). Personally, I'm a big fan of how significant keyboards are part of their music, with Daniel Mÿhr's ebonies and ivories holding their own alongside Rikard Sundén and Oskar Montelius' crunching rhythm and solo work. Coat of Arms is set for release in May, and Sabaton's discography - only five albums old so far - looks to be getting better and better. 

The Youtube video below is not the official release, but features a good collection of archived and dramatic footage showing Warsaw's occupation and destruction at the hands of the Nazis. The music is "Uprising".