 | Written by Alex Stojanovic Photography by Alex Stojanovic (C) 2026 All rights reserved by MetalMasterKingdom.com SABATON w/ Pop Evil / Wings Of Steel @ Great Canadian Casino Toronto, ON, Canada September 27, 2026 When you really think about it, Sabaton are the Iron Maiden of the new generation. Over the last 20 years since they put out Primo Victoria and Attero Dominatus, they kept on growing and growing to become one of the most notable and biggest metal bands in the world right now. Over in Europe, they have turned into a bonafide arena headliner, all while always moving up in venue sizes here in North America with every new tour. |
The amount of theatricality they have incorporated into their show over the years can rival any of the legacy acts known for their theatrical stage shows, and their show went from being your average metal show to more of a spectacle. For their current Legendary Tour across Canada and the U.S, they've managed to include a mix of large theatres, casino halls and small arenas. Initially slated for the spring of this year, the current North American tour was postponed to the fall due to a medical emergency with Par Sundstrom, but he's fully recovered now. The tour made a stop in Toronto on September 27 at the Great Canadian Casino, and let me just say that after seeing a few shows at the venue over the last couple of years, this was the first one that included pyro, which I wasn't exactly expecting, but it happened. It was one of the best shows I've seen this year, and I'm really excited to break it all down in this review. No more time wasting, let's jump into it.
| WINGS OF STEEL Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2026 MetalMasterKingdom.com | POP EVIL Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2026 MetalMasterKingdom.com |
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The tour featured two great special guests, with Wings Of Steel being the first to warm up the crowd. It happened to be their very first Toronto show ever, and by the end of their set, they gained a whole bunch of new fans with the crowd chanting their name. Up next were Pop Evil. Now they might be a rather odd choice for a tour like this because they come from the more modern hard rock realms and they're joining a tour with two power/anthemic metal bands. However, they received a rather welcome reception, as Sabaton crowds are always very friendly, unlike some other bands' crowds. Their intense songs got the pits going and the cheers were quite loud. I've seen many shows where one band might've seemed out of place on the bill due to the style differences, but they surprisingly worked, and others were they just didn't work at all. Pop Evil's inclusion on the bill fell in the former, and they treated the crowd to tracks like "Trenches", "Deathwalk", "Criminal" and "Deal With The Devil".
| With Sabaton's time to hit the stage now up, Toronto was primed like soldiers going into battle, ready to witness the long-awaited return of the Swedish titans after 7 long years since they were last here. In keeping with tradition, the set kicked off with "Ghost Division", which included the first blasts of pyro with flame spurts and concussion blasts. This time around, instead of one tank, they had two tanks on stage: one realistic looking one, and an inflatable one which was used as the drum riser. Joakim Broden's unmistakable voice when combined with the voices of the band and the crowd together made for some both majestic and thunderous vocal magic. Sabaton is one of those bands with a catalog where it feels like every song, including deep cuts, are hits, and no matter what song they play, at least a good percentatge of the crowd will be singing along to it. What's also great about a Sabaton show is that everyone in the band gets a chance to play frontman and address the crowd between certain songs, and they're another band where just about everyone sings. | SABATON Photo credit: Alex Stojanovic / (C) 2026 MetalMasterKingdom.com |
Since Sabaton completely missed Toronto on the War To End All Wars cycle, it was the first time we were treated to tracks like "Stormtroopers", "Soldier Of Heaven" and the now-instant classic sing-along anthem "Christmas Truce". With new tracks like "Yamato", "Crossing The Rubicon", "I, Emperor", "Hordes Of Khan" and "Templars" all adding the freshness, the signature fan favourites like "The Last Stand", "The Red Baron", "Night Witches", "Fields Of Verdun" and "Bismarck" all manage to still hit as hard as ever. In keeping with the theatricality, "Attack Of The Dead Men" saw the band start the song by wearing gas masks to go with the theme of the song. It also wouldn't be a Sabaton show without the inclusion of three of the most important songs, which were "Primo Victoria", "Swedish Pagans" and "To Hell & Back", which closed off the night and got some of the biggest sing-alongs.
Over the years, Sabaton have become a band whose shows bring many families, which is fantastic to see. Joakim usually manages to dedicate a moment in the set to acknowledge and shout out at least one young one in the crowd, and the lucky chosen one at this show that got his moment of acknowledgement was 8-year-old Rubin, who was attending his first metal show. To make it even more special for him, Joakim gave him his sunglasses, which he does to every kid he acknowledges at shows. I was actually surprised he didn't ask him to come up on stage because he normally does that; must've been because of the pyro on stage, and safety always comes first. With all that being said, Sabaton levelled up in venues in North America once again, and they might've brought what I think is the mightiest show that the Great Canadian Casino has seen to date (I could be wrong on that) with the theatricality and pyro. It makes us look forward to next time and wondering what's the next venue they will be heading up towards the next time they come. Could their time to headline the Coca-Cola Coliseum be on the horizon? We shall see.
Over the years, Sabaton have become a band whose shows bring many families, which is fantastic to see. Joakim usually manages to dedicate a moment in the set to acknowledge and shout out at least one young one in the crowd, and the lucky chosen one at this show that got his moment of acknowledgement was 8-year-old Rubin, who was attending his first metal show. To make it even more special for him, Joakim gave him his sunglasses, which he does to every kid he acknowledges at shows. I was actually surprised he didn't ask him to come up on stage because he normally does that; must've been because of the pyro on stage, and safety always comes first. With all that being said, Sabaton levelled up in venues in North America once again, and they might've brought what I think is the mightiest show that the Great Canadian Casino has seen to date (I could be wrong on that) with the theatricality and pyro. It makes us look forward to next time and wondering what's the next venue they will be heading up towards the next time they come. Could their time to headline the Coca-Cola Coliseum be on the horizon? We shall see.
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