Music / Civil War (Band)

aka: Civil War

Clockwise from upper left, Kelly Sundown Carpenter, Daniel Mullback, Petrus Granar, Daniel Mÿhr, and Thobbe Englund.

Civil War is a Power Metal band from Falun, Sweden. Sound familiar? That's because four of the founding members of the band (currently two) previously played for Sabaton.

The band formed in 2012 after guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, drummer Daniel Mullback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr left Sabaton after recording Carolus Rex (due in part to the group's grueling touring schedule). They joined up with vocalist Nils Patrik Johansson (Astral Doors) and bassist Stefan Eriksson, signing initially with Despotz Records. They are currently signed to Napalm Records.

The band continues Sabaton's tradition of predominantly historical themes, though they cover topics besides war and their lyrics tend to be more abstract than their parent group. Their name refers to The American Civil War, and they commonly perform in costumes based on Union and Confederate uniforms and named their first three albums after Michael and Jeff Shaara's historical novel trilogy about the war.

In 2014, a third guitarist, Petrus Granar, joined the band to play on Gods and Generals. However, after this second album, Montelius left the band in 2015, citing fatigue; Eriksson also left, leaving the band with no permanent bassist. In 2016, Johansson was dismissed from the band due to personal disputes with the other members, and was replaced the following February by Houston, Texas-based vocalist Kelly Sundown Carpenter (Adagio, Beyond Twilight, Darkology).

In 2021, Rikard Sundén was charged and eventually convicted of sex crimes; the band replaced him with then-former Sabaton guitarist Thobbe Englund.

Members:

Current lineup:

• Petrus Granar — guitar (2014–present)
• Daniel Mÿhr — keyboards (2012–present)
• Daniel Mullback — drums (2012–present)
• Kelly Sundown Carpenter – vocals (2017-present)
• Thobbe Englund — guitar (2021-present)

Past members:

• Rikard Sundén — guitar (2012–2021)
• Nils Patrik Johansson — vocals (2012–2016)
• Oskar Montelius — lead/rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2012–2015)
• Stefan "Pizza" Eriksson — bass (2012–2015)

Discography:

• Civil War (EP, 2012)
• The Killer Angels (2013) - named for The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
• Gods and Generals (2015) - named for Gods and Generals by Jeff Shaara
• The Last Full Measure (2016) - named for The Last Full Measure by Jeff Shaara
• Invaders (2022)

---

Tropes in Civil War's music:

• Ascended Extra:
  • Nils Patrik Johannson had previously filled in for Daniel Mullback for a couple shows on Sabaton's 2011 tour after Mullback injured his knee.
  • Thobbe Englund, who had previously been a replacement guitarist in Sabaton for the band's founders themselves, made a guest appearance as a guitarist on the single "Dead Man's Glory", and joined the band permanently after Rikard Sundén was kicked out.
• Blasphemous Boast: In "I Will Rule the Universe", Napoléon Bonaparte claims to be greater than God.
• The Cameo: Fellow former Sabaton musician Thobbe Englund plays on "Dead Man's Glory", two years before he officially joined the band.
• Cool Ship: The titular ship in "USS Monitor" certainly qualifies, being the first ironclad warship commissioned by the US Navy and one of the first of its kind to actually see battle.^note England and France were the first to invent ironclads, but neither used their designs in combat until after the American Civil War. Monitor was also the first combatant use of a gun turret. The song is sung from the perspective of its designer, John Ericsson, a Swedish-American inventor. The song details his vision of the ironclad as the future of naval warfare, and his initial attempts to sell the design to the British, who turned him down. Hearing of the ongoing American Civil War, he decided to propose his design to the Union, who then build the titular ship based on his design. The ship is rather accurately described as a Nigh-Invulnerable juggernaut that it's best to avoid going up against.
  Hold your fire save your life
  Armored in steel the USS Monitor
  This is judgment day
  The rise of the ironclad!
• Cowboy Episode: "Tombstone" is about the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, and the video features the band playing in the middle of the crossfire.
• Elite Army: "First to Fight" is about special operations units.
• Folk Metal: "Dead Man's Glory" takes cues from Irish folk music. The song itself is about the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 between Brian Boru, The High King of Ireland, and a Norse-Irish alliance in the east of Ireland.
• Horrible History Metal: Like Sabaton, they sing primarily about historical events, though their lyrics often tend to be more abstract. Also, rather than European conflicts and the world wars, they mainly focus on American history.
• Horny Vikings:
  • "Dead Man's Glory" is about Irishmen fighting off Vikings. The song is about the Battle of Clontarf in 1014 between Brian Boru, The High King of Ireland, and a Norse-Irish alliance in the east of Ireland.
  • "Tears From the North" deals with the Viking exploration of the New World under Leif Erikson.
• I Did What I Had to Do: General William Sherman is portrayed as holding this view on his scorched earth tactics much as he did in real life. He believed such ruthless tactics were necessary to avoid prolonging the war and causing even more suffering.
  The tactic was brutal but God Hallelujah
  In gun smoke the justice was made!
  Bloodshed and chaos the northern invaders
  Completing the inglorious raid!
• Literary Allusion Title: Their first three studio albums (and a song on each album) take their names from the Shaaras' novel trilogy about The American Civil War.
• Loved I Not Honor More: In a possible homage to the Trope Namer, "To Lucasta", the verses of "Rome Is Falling" describes the speaker writing a regretful love letter to (presumably) his wife while away at war, lamenting that his obligations to the army must separate them, but only for now.
• New Era Speech: "USS Monitor" is essentially one long one told from the perspective of John Ericsson, the inventor of the titular ship, about how his design will revolutionize naval warfare as we know it.
• Occupiers Out of Our Country: "Invaders" depicts the Indian Wars and other such conflicts from the point of view of the Native Americans, "calling on every nation" to "drown the white shadow in the arrows' rain" and "drive the invaders from our lands".
• Power Ballad: "Andersonville" is a slow, mournful song told from the perspective of a US Army soldier taken prisoner by the rebels and shipped off to the infamous Hellhole Prison POW Camp in Andersonville, Georgia, from which he will never return.
• Taking Over Heaven: Napoleon's goal, according to "I Will Rule the Universe".
  I shall cross the seraphs' veil
  and soon I will be marching on to Heaven
• Unscrupulous Hero: William Tecumseh Sherman is portrayed as a mixture of this and Well-Intentioned Extremist in "Savannah", which details his (in)famous March to the Sea, which saw the use of devastating scorched earth tactics typically involving burning crops and supplies, burning plantations (and freeing the slaves on said plantations) destroying farming equipment, wrecking the already underdeveloped Southern railways, and other such ruthless tactics, most famously burning much of Atlanta down entirely. He did this all as the means to end the war as quickly as possible and spare more people from the horrors of war.
  We're rolling like thunder we burn and we plunder!
  The principle of the scorched earth!
  Civilians are dying the children are crying!
  But this is the way of the world!
• Vocal Dissonance: For fans who followed the musicians from Sabaton and Joakim Brodén's baritone growl, Nils Johansson's falsetto caterwauling is a bit of a switch. Ditto Kelly Carpenter.
• War Is Glorious and War Is Hell: Like Sabaton, they often toe the lines between the two, often covering both the hellish and glorious aspects of war. Some, like Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure from their respective titular albums do both at once. Emphasizing how brutal the war was and how many died during the bloodiest conflict in American history, while also celebrating the Union's victory, and demonstrating that the cause was ultimately worth fighting for in the end. Gods and Generals in particular deals with the lionization of the military leaders of the war, comparing the reverence they earned to that of gods.
  We will die on the glory road to heaven!
  The brave will live forever!
  I raise my glass and drink to you!
  Who will fight 'til the final breath with honor!
  Are we gods or generals? Well I'm not sure.
  Well I'm not sure.

---