Thobbe Englund explains why it was now right time to rejoin Sabaton

Guitarist Thobbe Englund made a comeback to Sabaton earlier this year, stepping back in after departing from the group in 2016, taking over from Tommy Johansson. But what prompted Englund to rejoin after an eight-year hiatus? In an interview with Brutal Planet Magazine, Englund explained that his initial departure was primarily to spend time with his young child.

“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.”

Reflecting on his return, Englund shared that on New Year’s Eve, he realized he’d likely say yes if asked to come back. Interestingly, shortly after this revelation, Sabaton‘s bassist and manager, Pär Sundström, extended the invitation.

“[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.'”