SABATON have released a new version of "Templars" featuring Leigh Kakaty of POP EVIL, out now via Better Noise Music — a day after debuting it live, without warning, at Louder Than Life in Louisville, Kentucky.
Kakaty walked on during SABATON's set on September 17 and the two acts premiered the reworked track together in front of tens of thousands of people, turning it into one of the festival's standout moments.
"Templars" originally introduced SABATON's eleventh studio album, "Legends," at the end of 2025. Vocalist Joakim Brodén framed the new version as an experiment with a practical motive. "'Templars' was a hit with our fans when we dropped it last year to introduce our eleventh studio album, 'Legends'. This year, we wanted to do something a little different with it, and teaming up with our North American tourmates POP EVIL just made perfect sense," he said. "Having a fantastic vocalist put his own stamp on the track adds a whole new layer and gives the song a fresh energy that we're really excited for everyone to hear."
Bassist Pär Sundström put it more simply: "We've always enjoyed finding new ways to revisit our music, and 'Templars' felt like the perfect song to experiment with. Leigh's take on the track brings a different attitude. It's exciting to see one of our songs evolve like this."
Kakaty, for his part, was drawn to the subject matter. "I've always appreciated the band's ability to bring history to life and this song stood to that power," he said. "The track gave us the opportunity to explore loyalty, purpose, and the challenges that come with standing by what you believe in. Collaborating on a song with such strong storytelling was a real privilege. Heading out on tour together in the fall makes the track feel even more special for me."
The single follows "Yamato," SABATON's second collaboration with the online game "World Of Warships" and developer Wargaming. Since March it has passed 7.5 million Spotify streams with 4.6 million views on the video. Their first Wargaming tie-in, 2019's "Bismarck," remains one of the most popular songs in the catalogue, with more than 124 million Spotify streams and over 111 million video views.
"Legends" itself arrived at the end of 2025 and has racked up close to 200 million streams. Kerrang! gave it 4/5 with a verdict that doubles as a description of the band's entire method: "SABATON do one thing, and after 11 albums there doesn't appear to be an off switch. But by Odin, they do that one thing better than anyone else."
SABATON and POP EVIL tour North America together this autumn.