Sabaton have bid farewell to outgoing guitarist Thobbe Englund and officially welcomed his replacement Tommy Johansson.
Englund played his last show with the band at their Sabaton Open Air festival in Sweden at the weekend. Earlier this month it was revealed Englund was leaving due to the band’s hectic touring schedule.
Now Sabaton have announced former Golden Resurrection and ReinXeed man Johansson as his replacement.
Sabaton say: “Thank you Thobbe, welcome Tommy.
“Our guitar player Thobbe did his final concert with us on last Saturday’s very emotional show at the Sabaton Open Air festival.
“Celebrating the release of our new album while saying goodbye to a great friend is lots of mixed feelings. But the future is bright since this was not nearly our last stand. From now on, you will see Tommy Johansson playing guitars with Sabaton and we all look forward to see you on the road.”
Sabaton’s eighth album The Last Stand was released on August 19 via Nuclear Blast and features Englund playing.
Johansson adds: “For me to be a part of the Sabaton family is a huge honour and I couldn’t be happier. The guys are awesome and among the nicest people you can meet.
“I’ve been following Sabaton since 2005 when I saw them live for the first time and I have loved the band ever since, so when they asked me to join there was no hesitation. Although they did ask me already back in 2012 but for many personal reasons it was not a good time for me to hit the road and give everything that was needed to the band. So I declined, but we have stayed in touch since then.
“I also wanna say that Thobbe is a great guitarist and such a wonderful guy. My job is not to replace him, it’s to contribute to the band with my own style of guitar playing but of course also to keep his fans happy by playing his wonderful solos with pride.
“I look forward to meet you all on tour and to do what I love the most in life — to play heavy metal.”
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Sabaton remaining tour dates 2016⁄17
Aug 28: Straszecin Czad Festival, Poland
Aug 29: Wroclaw Rock For Freedom, Poland
Jan 07: Oberhausen Konig Pilsener Arena, Germany
Jan 08: Antwerp Lotto Arena, Belgium
Jan 10: Dublin Vicar Street, Ireland
Jan 11: Glasgow O2 Academy, UK
Jan 13: Manchester O2 Apollo, UK
Jan 14: London O2 Brixton Academy, UK
Jan 28: Ludwigsburg MHP Arena, Germany
Jan 29: Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall, Netherlands
Jan 31: Frankfurt Jahrhunderthalle, Germany
Feb 01: Saarbrucken Saarlandhalle, Germany
Feb 04: Bamberg Brose Arena, Germany
Feb 05: Munich Zenith, Germany
Mar 15: Berlin Columbiahalle, Germany
