A few weeks ago we featured the comeback 2023 album from Swedish metal pioneers HEAVY LOAD, their new record in four decades since their last album ‘Stronger than Evil’ (1983). But also the legendary HEAVY LOAD back catalogue will be made available again, expanded with bonus tracks – some of these tracks have never been heard by the public before — demos, and songs recorded for the albums which had to be dropped due to the limited playing time on the LPs.
In order to guarantee the best sound quality, the reissues have been remastered — by the Wahlquist brothers themselves — directly from the original analogue tapes, at the Atlantis Studio in Stockholm, which is one of the few studios that still have the capacity to handle recordings the old analogue way.
“Death Or Glory (Remastered & Expanded)” is the band’s 1982 album which is now being re-pressed due the original first batch of discs sold out.
HEAVY LOAD is widely credited for starting the whole Swedish heavy metal wave with its first album in 1978. “Death Or Glory” is pure traditional metal, cliché, but a lot of fun.
HEAVY LOAD is a legend in Swedish metal history starting operations in the mid-70s, and it’s a generally held belief that they were the band that started the Swedish wave of heavy metal.
Formed by the brothers Ragne and Styrbjörn Wahlquist the band performed the first concert in 1976, first album release in 1978. Before long, the brothers started their own studio. As time went by, many famous bands would come to record in the brothers’ Thunderload Studio.
Much like other high quality but under appreciated European traditional metal bands (220 Volt, Overdrive, Avenger) Sweden’s beery vikings Heavy Load slugged it out in the trenches long before anybody bothered to notice ‘em. Partially to blame were ludicrously small and poorly distributed pressing of their records, but no classic metal this good should go unheard for any reason.
Bringing the energy and passion of the NWOBHM to bear on Scorpions derived clever guitar stylings, Heavy Load embody a hopeful, anthemic sound evoking Viking anthems sung after a lost but well fought battle. Debuting way back in ’78 with a self-financed record called Full Speed At High Level, the band were on their way to metal non-stardom, but ”Death Or Glory”, their second album is the band’s finest hour.
“Heavy Metal Angels” is a classic, fast, riffy, catchy, all that good stuff. “Might For Right” and “Something New” offer good melodies and catchy constructs, but the uptempo, slamming riffs and unique sound of “Bleeding Streets” make it the easy highlight of the whole record.
This is not to say that “Still There Is Time” and “Daybreak Ecstasy” ain’t damn good, ‘cuz they are. Really good.
The original LP sound is bright and lacks bottom, and it would have been nice to give the guitars a touch more bite and lowered the volume on Ragne Wahlquist’s vocals a touch. All that has been corrected with this remastering, and ”Death Or Glory” comes punchy, vibrant.
A Swedish metal cult classic.
Highly Recommended
01 - Heavy Metal Angels (In Metal and Leather).mp3
02 - Might For Right.mp3
03 - Something New.mp3
04 - Bleeding Streets.mp3
05 - The Guitar Is My Sword.mp3
06 - Still There Is Time.mp3
07 - Traveller.mp3
08 - Little Lies.mp3
09 - Daybreak Ecstasy.mp3
10 - Dying Is Losing (Bonustrack) (Demo).mp3
11 - Take Me Away (Bonustrack).mp3
12 - Trespasser (Bonustrack).mp3
13 - The Guitar Is My Sword (Extended and Remixed) (Bonustrack).mp3
Heavy Load – Death Or Glory 2023 Remaster Expanded No Remorse, TCDJ 822-17, Remastered], MP3+FLAC
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