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, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

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

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

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

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

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. 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 The Sweden Rock Festival is an annual rock/metal festival held in Sweden since 6 June 1992. While having a clear rock/metal focus, the festival is noted for its diversity across these genres, from southern rock bands such as Molly Hatchet to de ...

in June.

Discography

Albums

* ''Full Speed at High Level'' (1978) * ''Metal Conquest'' (EP, 1981) * ''Death or Glory'' (1982) * ''Stronger Than Evil'' (1983) (

playing bass guitar on the track "Free")

Others

* "Take Me Away" (single, 1982) * ''Live'' (VHS, 1983) * "Free" (single, 1983) (

playing bass guitar on the track "Free") * "Monsters of the Night" (single, 1985)

Band members

Current members

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

Former members

* Paul Gray - bass guitar (1986-??) * 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

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