Sabaton "Carolus Rex"

Carolus Rex is the sixth studio album by Swedish power metal band Sabaton. It is a concept album based on the rise and fall of the Swedish Empire, whose monarch Charles XII gives it its title. It was released with both English and Swedish vocals. It is the last album to feature guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, drummer Daniel Mullback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr. It was produced by Peter Tägtgren in Abyss Studios. The album received critical acclaim and commercial success, achieving gold certification in Poland and quadruple platinum in Sweden.

A Swedish edition of the album, with Swedish lyrics, is also available.

The limited 2-CD mail-order edition of the album includes the English version with all of the bonus tracks and the Swedish version, as well as alternate artwork.

As of 18 September 2012, the album is certified gold in Sweden, selling over 30,000 copies (20,000 copies sold is needed for an album to be certified gold in Sweden). As of March 2013, the album is also certified gold in Poland. On 18 June 2013, Carolus Rex was certified platinum in Sweden with 40,000 album sales, making it the "most successful Swedish heavy metal album ever" according to the band. The album is the 74th best-selling album in Sweden after 1995.


On 28 September 2018, Sabaton announced that the album had been awarded quadruple platinum status after remaining on the Swedish chart for 326 weeks, and commemorated this with a number of limited edition versions and merchandise. These were set for release on 30 November 2018, the 300th anniversary of the death of Charles XII.

Fellow Falun-based metal band Follow The Cipher, which includes Carolus Rex contributing songwriter Ken Kängström, covered "Carolus Rex" on their 2018 self-titled debut album. Metal Injection's review of the album noted Linda Toni Grahn's version of the vocals sounded "more haunting".

Recorded and mixed at Abyss Studios.