Heavy Load is a Swedish heavy metal band from

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. The band is often hailed as the first Swedish heavy metal band, and were known for their

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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 Candlemass. Various touring and demo line-ups of the band have included

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and The Damned bass player Paul Gray, Treat guitarist Leif Liljegren, and renowned architect Eero Koivisto.

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played on one of the band's released songs. Renowned Swedish

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

and SVT music show host Anders Tengner acted as the band's manager from 1978 to 1985. 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, including an appearance at that year's

Sweden Rock Festival Sweden Rock Festival is a rock festival outside the town of Sölvesborg in Blekinge in southern Sweden. The festival offers the best possible mix of classic rock, hard rock, metal, blues and related genres. The first version of the festival, k ...

in June. On September 6, 2023, the band announced their first album in 40 years, ''Riders of the Ancient Storm'', which was released on October 6. On January 7, 2025 it was announced that founder Ragne Wahlquist had passed away at the age of 69. The band was at the time of his death working on a new album which they say will be completed.

Band members

Current members

* Styrbjörn Wahlquist – drums, vocals, percussion (1976–1985, 2017–present) * Torbjörn Ragnesjö – bass guitar (1979–1984, 2017–present) * Nic Savage - guitars (2018–present)

Former members

* Paul Gray - bass guitar (1986-??) * Ragne Wahlquist – guitars, vocals, keyboards (1976–1985, 2017–2025; his death) * Patrick Karlsson - guitar (1986 - ??) * Andreas Fritz – bass guitar (1984-1985) * Leif Liljegren – guitar (1979) * Eero Koivisto – bass guitar (1979) * Dan Molén – bass guitar (1978–1979) * Michael Backler – bass guitar (1976–1977) * Eddy Malm – guitar, vocals (1978–1985) * Micke Söderström – Keyboards (2018) * Johan Westre – Keyboards (2018)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Full Speed at High Level'' (1978) * ''Death or Glory'' (1982) * ''Stronger Than Evil'' (1983) * ''Riders of the Ancient Storm'' (2023)

EPs

* ''Metal Conquest'' (1981)

Others

* "Take Me Away" (single, 1982) * ''Live'' (VHS, 1983) * "Free" (single, 1983) * "Monsters of the Night" (single, 1985)

References

External links

Heavy Load Official webpage
{{Authority control Swedish heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1976 1976 establishments in Sweden Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Musical groups reestablished in 2017 2017 establishments in Sweden Sibling musical groups Musical groups from Stockholm