Guitarist Thobbe Englund rejoined Sabaton earlier this year after leaving the band in 2016, replacing Tommy Johansson. So why is Englund coming back after eight years? Long story short, Englund said in an interview with Brutal Planet Magazine he originally left to spend time with his then-young childn.
"I didn't have to think about it that much, because my son is five now. His favorite band is Sabaton. When I left the band, it looked completely different for me privately. It was, like, we wanted to have a kid. And then, you know how it is with kids when they're toddlers and all that. You wanna be home, you wanna be there.
"And during all these years, for me being home, being together with [my son] and the family, the band has grown immensely for eight years, which means that we won't be away that much anymore like we used to."
On returning to the band, Englund said it dawned on him on New Year's Eve that he'd probably come back if asked. Which was clearly perfect timing, as Sabaton bassist and manager Pär Sundström requested him to do exactly that shortly thereafter.
"[New Year's Eve] was the moment when I realized that something inside of me has told me that if the question comes, yes, of course. I belong to Sabaton. That's my family, that's my best friends.
"So it was just, everything kind of dawned on me. 'Of course, yes. If the question comes, I'll say yes.' And I think it was a week later, we had a birthday party for [my son], and me and Joakim [Brodén, Sabaton singer] had been writing a song that's gonna be on this new album. And he just texted me a couple of days before."
"And he was, like, 'Are you gonna be at home Sunday? Because, yeah, I'm just coming by.' I was, 'Yeah, yeah, of course. Just come by. I'll put on some coffee,' and like that. We sat there drinking coffee, and we talked about something. And then he was, like, 'By the way, how do you feel about putting those camo pants back on?' And I was, like, 'All right. So here is the question. It actually came, like one week later.'"
