Heavy Load were pioneers in the Swedish heavy metal scene. Over the years they became like the proudest bearers of the true Viking heavy metal banner. Formed in 1976, they released their first album as early as in 1978, entitled "Full Speed at High Level". In 1981 they followed up with a mini-album called "Metal Conquest". 1 year later they released their second full length album, "Death Or Glory". Now people were starting to notice them, and by their 3rd full album, "Stronger Than Evil", released in 1983, they had reached their peak. These LP's remain landmarks of anthemic heavy metal in it's truest form, and Heavy Load sold a total of around 60 000 albums in Sweden only. Following the "Stronger Than Evil" LP some problems started to occur, and after the last single, "Monsters Of The Night", released in 1985, and a following tour, Heavy Load resorted to their rehearsal rooms and never played live again. An album was in the make for many years, but as members came and went, it turned out to never be released. However, the tapes of the almost finished album, recorded by the Wahlquist brothers together with Paul Gray and Patrik Karlsson, still exist, and they might see the light of day at some point in the future. Heavy Load never officially ceased to exist, but somewhere around 1988, Gray and Karlsson were out of the picture and the heavy metal brothers more and more started to focus on working in their own studio.
 

DEATH OR GLORY (1982, 1996) THUNDERLOAD/KING (Bootleg)

Heavy Load was one of the most cliché ridden bands in the history of heavy metal. They played true metal, with loads of Viking imagery, they had song-titles such as "Heavy Metal Angels (In Metal And Leather" and "The Guitar Is My Sword", and they were a part of the NWOBHM scene and sound. There was only one "catch"; they were from Stockholm, Sweden! One can say many things about these guys, but you cannot call them a copycat band. Formed in 1976, and releasing their first album in 1978, by the time this record came out, the boys was almost veterans. 'Death Or Glory' was Heavy Load's 2nd full-length album, originally released in 1982. It is a time typical heavy metal album. The production is of course not up to today's standards, but back in 1982 this was more then good enough. The songs blends heavy guitars with melodic vocal melodies. Ragne had a solid voice, but without the operatic falsetto used by so many of the more famous bands around that era. Thus making Heavy Load sound much more akin to the underground bands of the NWOBHM. Today this band is almost forgotten. But a die hard cult following, and the fact that their music hasn't been properly available on CD (at least not outside of Japan), have made the bootleggers crawl out to take a bite from the forbidden fruit. So what I thought was a legit Japanese CD version of this classic, turned out to be a high quality bootleg from Greece, complete with all the original artwork, lyrics etc. The only difference is that where the matrix number on the CD should be, I only found the band name.

Killer tracks: Something New, The Guitar Is My Sword, Take Me Away, Still There Is Time, Daybreak Ecstasy

Ragne Wahlquist guest appearances:

HammerFall - 'Renegade' (single)

Styrbjörn Wahlquist guest appearances:

HammerFall - 'Renegade' (single)