NUCLEAR BLAST is beyond proud to announce that The Swedish Skeptics Association (Vetenskap och Folkbildning) has awarded SABATON the “Enlightener of the Year Award 2022” (Årets Folkbildare 2022”) making them then first ever rock band to receive this prestigious accolade.
The “Enlightener of the Year Award” is an annual title that began in 1987. It is traditionally presented to academics, authors, journalists and media outlets that go above and beyond what is expected in order to educate people.
The Swedish Skeptics Association has hand picked SABATON specifically for their ability to deliver factual content, expressing that they stand out from their contemporaries and peers in the music scene for their dedication to giving truthful, historical accounts with the assistance of qualified historians and experts.
The president of the Swedish Skeptics Association, Pontus Böckman, states: “Sabaton combines its artistic work with public education in a unique way. In a world where we are inundated with fake news and conspiracy theories, fact-checked information is delivered from the last place many would expect – a heavy metal band.”
Fans of SABATON know how passionate the band is about history and are aware of the lengths they go to share the stories of days gone by. Their mission has always been to inform and educate on the atrocities, events and heroes that surface from war and conflict.
The Swedish Skeptics Association’s announcement notes: “By making it clear that they are not historians themselves but rely on experts, they demonstrate an insight that even academics sometimes lack, namely that of being aware of where the limits of their own knowledge lie. Interviews and extracts also show that history is a subject where our knowledge changes with new discoveries and we must be prepared to change our perceptions as new data emerges. This too is fundamental to all science.”
Since it was founded in 1982, The Swedish Skeptics Association’s main purpose has been to raise the public’s awareness of scientific methods and results. The association publishes a quarterly journal and coordinates lectures on themes related to science and pseudoscience. In 1987 the association began awarding annual prizes for “Enlightener of the Year” and “Obscurantist (or “Confounderer”) of the Year”. NUCLEAR BLAST is proud for the band to be the recipient of the “Enlightener of the Year” award, and couldn’t be happier.
Thrilled with the news, Pär Sundström declares: “We’ve started the year in the best way possible. We love making music and we’ve received a significant amount of recognition for our releases, but to be recognised for the hard work and effort that goes into the topics of our songs with an award such as this is a whole different thing. It’s a whole new level of validation that means the world to us and makes us quite emotional. We put hours and hours of work into every song we write, and work hand-in-hand with historians and academics to ensure that what we are putting out into the world is accurate and factual. This is something we stand by and will make sure we continue in the same vein.”
“What we create is not just metal. We build vivid pictures around the narratives from conflicts spanning the globe, and we do this from a neutral standpoint. We feel it’s fundamental to not let these stories collect dust. We need to bring them to the light for people to learn from past incidents. We want to awaken a passion for history and curiosity among our listeners. I really want to thank The Swedish Skeptics Association for this incredible accolade. It truly is an honour.”
The “Enlightener of the Year Award 2022” consists of the prestigious title and prize money of 50,000SEK.
