Heavy Load (band)

Last updated
Heavy Load
Origin Stockholm, Sweden
Genres Heavy metal, Power Metal
Years active1976–1983, 1985, 1987, 2017–present
MembersStyrbjörn Wahlquist
Ragne Wahlquist
Torbjörn Ragnesjö
Eddy Malm
Past membersMichael Backler
Dan Molén
Eero Koivisto
Leif Liljegren
Andreas Fritz
Paul Gray
Patrick Karlsson

Heavy Load is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm. The band is often hailed as the first Swedish heavy metal band, [1] and were known for their Viking themes. The Wahlquist brothers, who founded the band in 1976 along with Michael Backler, were later producers and owners of Thunderload Records in Sweden, were at one point producing Veni Domine, and also were considering releasing a new album, though that never occurred.

Contents

Various touring and demo line-ups of the band have included UFO and The Damned bass player Paul Gray, Treat guitarist Leif Liljegren, and renowned architect Eero Koivisto. Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy played on one of the band's released songs.

Misfortune struck when Thunderload Studios got severely damaged due to a water leakage in the 2000s, which meant a halt to its official existence. After the breakup, the members then went on and performed with other bands.

The band reformed in October 2017 and announced a series of shows for 2018, [2] including an appearance at that year's Sweden Rock Festival in June. [3]

On September 6, 2023, the band announced their first album in 40 years, Riders of the Ancient Storm, which was released on October 6. [4]

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Others

Band members

Current members

Former members

Timeline

Heavy Load (band)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blekinge County</span> County (län) of Sweden

Blekinge County is a county or län in the south of Sweden. It borders the Counties of Skåne, Kronoberg, Kalmar and the Baltic Sea. The capital is Karlskrona. It is the smallest of the present administrative counties of Sweden, covering only 0,7% of the total area of the country. Princess Adrienne, the daughter of Princess Madeleine, is Duchess of Blekinge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blood, Sweat & Tears</span> American rock music band

Blood, Sweat & Tears is an American jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. BS&T has gone through numerous iterations with varying personnel and has encompassed a wide range of musical styles. Their sound has merged rock, pop and R&B/soul music with big band jazz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omnium Gatherum</span> Finnish melodic death metal band

Omnium Gatherum is a six-piece melodic death metal band from Finland, founded in the autumn of 1996. Although the band mainly follows the path of the melodic death metal genre, much of their work shows strong influences from progressive metal, especially their later albums. Their music is influenced by Gothenburg-style bands such as At the Gates, In Flames, Dissection, Dark Tranquillity, but also Iron Maiden, Death, Anathema and Megadeth among others.

<i>Epicus Doomicus Metallicus</i> 1986 studio album by Candlemass

Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is the debut album of the Swedish doom metal band Candlemass. It was released 10 June 1986 on Black Dragon Records. On its release, the album had a significantly different sound than other European heavy metal bands of the time, because of their use of operatic vocals mixed over slow and heavy guitar riffs. The album did not sell well on its initial release, which led to the group being dropped from the label during the same year. Since then, the album has been re-issued in several different formats. The album title Epicus Doomicus Metallicus is a dog latin translation rendering of Epic Doom Metal — the genre which the band helped pioneer and with which it is most commonly identified. Although he was actually a guest musician at the time of its recording, this was the only Candlemass album to feature vocalist Johan Längqvist until he joined the band, officially, in 2018.

<i>Nightfall</i> (Candlemass album) 1987 studio album by Candlemass

Nightfall is the second studio album by the Swedish doom metal band Candlemass, released on 9 November 1987 through Axis Records. After being dropped from the label Black Dragon Records, Candlemass were the first band signed to Axis. The group had a new line-up from their previous album including vocalist Messiah Marcolin, whose decisions became instrumental during the production and release stages of the album.

<i>Left Hand Path</i> (album) 1990 studio album by Entombed

Left Hand Path is the debut studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 4 June 1990 by Earache Records.

Divinefire is a Christian metal group founded in the spring of 2004 by Finnish guitarist Jani Stefanovic, and Swedish singer Christian Liljegren. Liljegren is the current frontman of the band Narnia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demon (band)</span> English heavy metal band

Demon is an English heavy metal band, formed in 1979 by vocalist Dave Hill and guitarist Mal Spooner, both hailing from Leek, Staffordshire. The band is considered important to the new wave of British heavy metal movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Johan Grimmark</span> Musical artist

Carl Johan Grimmark is a Swedish guitarist. He has appeared with several influential Christian metal bands including Narnia, Saviour Machine, and Rob Rock. He recently joined the band Beautiful Sin in 2006, he has also played with Jerusalem on some occasions including Sweden rock in 2015. He also has been a special guest guitarist on fellow Narnia bandmate Christian Liljegren's side projects Divinefire and Audiovision. He recently recorded his debut solo album that is set to be titled Grimmark, where he also handles the lead vocals. Grimmark's style of playing, especially on Narnia's earlier work, is often compared to the neo-classical metal stylings of Yngwie Malmsteen, or under a more broad genre, neo-classicism.

Veni Domine was a Christian progressive doom metal band founded in Sollentuna, Sweden in 1987. The band split up on 20 September 2014.

Kick Axe is a Canadian heavy metal band from Regina, Saskatchewan. Influenced by rambunctious arena rock from the 1970s and early 1980s, the group is perhaps best known for their 1984 album Vices, praised by publications such as AllMusic for its "down-and-dirty guitar riffs" and managing to crack the American market. The band achieved moderate commercial success in the mid-1980s on the strength of the singles "Heavy Metal Shuffle", "On the Road to Rock", "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Rock the World". Following the release of their 1986 album Rock the World, Kick Axe disbanded and remained on hiatus for many years. In 2004, they re-emerged with the album Kick Axe IV.

Treat is a Swedish rock band from Stockholm. Formed in 1981 by singer Robert Ernlund and guitarist Anders "Gary" Wikström, the band had national and as well as international success with songs like "Get You on the Run", "World of Promises", "Party All Over" and "Ready for the Taking" in the second half of the 1980s.

Apostasy is a Swedish black metal band formed in 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scanner (band)</span> German power metal band

Scanner is a German power metal band that was formed in 1986. Three of the band members had previously taken part in an album release by the band Lions Breed, Damn the Night. The band changed its name to Scanner, adopting a science fiction image for their lyrics, album covers and live performances. They released their first album, Hypertrace, in 1988 through Noise Records. They have reformed twice, releasing their latest album on 12 January 2024, The Cosmic Race, via Rock of Angels Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trollfest</span> Norwegian folk metal band

Trollfest is a Norwegian folk metal band.

<i>Dreamhunter</i> (album) 1987 studio album by Treat

Dreamhunter is the third studio album by the Swedish hard rock band Treat, released in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warfaze</span> Bangladeshi heavy metal band.

Warfaze is a Bangladeshi heavy metal band formed on 6 June 1984 in Dhaka by Ibrahim Ahmed Kamal, Meer, Helal, Naimul, and Bapi. They are one of the earliest heavy metal bands in Bangladesh. The band had numerous line-up changes since 1984 and since its inception, the band has released seven studio albums, one compilation album, and several singles. They have experimented with numerous sub-genres of rock and heavy metal over the years.

<i>Scratch and Bite</i> 1985 studio album by Treat

Scratch and Bite is the Debut studio album by the Swedish heavy metal band Treat. It was released on February 24, 1985

Voodoo Circle, also known as Alex Beyrodt's Voodoo Circle, is a German hard rock band founded in 2008, as a project of Silent Force guitarist Alex Beyrodt who had the idea to re-think his personal vision of music, making songs more based on his early influences, such as Whitesnake, Yngwie Malmsteen, Deep Purple and Rainbow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mats Bergmans</span> Musical artist

Mats Bergmans is a dansband from Nyköping, Sweden, established in 1973 as Sjösa kustband, before a naming dispute made them change name to Sjösagrabbarna. The band became a full-time band in 1981, and changed name to Mats Bergmans in 1987.

References

  1. Rivadavia, Eduardo. Biography of Heavy Load at AllMusic . Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  2. "Swedish Cult Heavy Metal Band HEAVY LOAD Is Back". Blabbermouth.net . October 26, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  3. "Heavy Load återförenas på Sweden Rock - Blekinge Läns Tidning". Blekinge Läns Tidning (in Swedish). 2017-10-25. Retrieved 2018-06-17.
  4. "Heavy Load to release new studio album "Riders of the Ancient Storm" on October 6th 2023". Grande Rock. September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 14, 2023.
  5. 1 2 "HEAVY LOAD OFFICIAL". Heavyload-sweden.com. Retrieved 2018-06-17.