{"id":21260,"date":"2023-09-10T15:02:29","date_gmt":"2023-09-10T15:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/?p=21260"},"modified":"2023-09-10T15:03:16","modified_gmt":"2023-09-10T15:03:16","slug":"swedish-viking-metal-pioneers-heavy-load-are-backwith-a-late-40th-anniversary-album","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/2023\/09\/10\/swedish-viking-metal-pioneers-heavy-load-are-backwith-a-late-40th-anniversary-album\/","title":{"rendered":"Swedish Viking metal pioneers HEAVY LOAD are backwith a late\u00a040th anniversary album"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Album release Riders of the Ancient<\/em> Storm on October 6th
Feature-packed Luxury Edition incl. brand new Viking saga!
<\/strong>Pre-Order starts now!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The band that started the Swedish wave of heavy metal is back: HEAVY LOAD! Four decades have passed since HEAVY LOAD released their latest album: Stronger than Evil<\/em> (1983). Years before the rest of the northern world, their songs ventured into Viking themes and existential lyrics, spearheading a movement way ahead of its time. The compositions are dramatic and render a great variety of moods, while passionate innovation and creative fervor are always shining bright in every song on the album \u2013 pioneering 101!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HEAVY LOAD\u2019s comeback album Riders of the Ancient Storm<\/em> rings of their well-known sound and songwriting. Thanks to an epic pact between the band and No Remorse Records, the band\u2019s whole back catalog is brought back as high quality re-releases. After releases in 2018 and 2019, more will follow. The records come with bonus tracks and old recordings never before heard by the public, and extensive booklets. It\u2019s a release long awaited by people all over the globe \u2013 and it will be followed by many concerts to come. HEAVY LOAD is back!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"HEAVY<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Riders of the Ancient Storm<\/em> will be available on October 6th<\/strong>, early birds can pre-order it right now<\/strong> on www.noremorse.gr<\/strong><\/a>. More stores and main distributors will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there\u2019s more: Singer, guitarist, keyboarder and producer Ragne Wahlquist \u2013 who is also an avid author \u2013 will release a special edition of his soon-to-launch Wahlgaard Saga<\/em>, a Viking family saga in a series of novels, along with the band\u2019s new album. Adding to the gravitational pull of this overarching theme, Riders of the Ancient Storm<\/em>, which references passages of the Wahlgaard Saga<\/em> on numerous occasions, will also be available as a Luxury Box including the English version of Wahlquist\u2019s book<\/strong>. In addition, this crazy package (limited to 300 hand numbered<\/strong> copies) contains the digipak CD<\/strong>, coloured vinyl<\/strong>, a t-shirt<\/strong> and a poster<\/strong> \u2013 a heavy load indeed, ain\u2019t it?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tracklist Riders of the Ancient Storm<\/em>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side A
Ride the Night
We Rock the World
Walhalla Warriors
Angel Dark<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Side B
Slave No More
Raven Is Calling
Sail Away
Butterfly Whisperings (Bonus Track)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good news also for all fans at Keep It True Rising festival in W\u00fcrzburg (GER)<\/strong> next month, as Heavy Load (Styrbj\u00f6rn and Ragne Wahlquist) are looking forward to meeting you at a signing session<\/strong> on the day of their album release. Check the festival website and social media channels for details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About HEAVY LOAD<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

HEAVY LOAD was established in Stockholm during the grim winter of 1974-1975  by the two brothers Ragne Wahlquist (vocals, guitars and keyboards) and Styrbj\u00f6rn Wahlquist (vocals and drums). The vision and the passion of the Wahlquist brothers was always the kernel of the band\u2019s determined drive \u2013 their drive to venture out on musical journeys and to spread their music and lyrics to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two inventive minds wouldn\u2019t have outsiders get in the way of shaping their own future as heavy metal pioneers: As producers and owners of the Thunderload Studio<\/strong>, they\u2019ve shaped a sound that would quickly become the blueprint for European doom metal, starting with CANDLEMASS<\/strong>\u2019 groundbreaking Epicus Doomicus Metallicus<\/em><\/strong> album and followed by the band\u2019s iconic Nightfall<\/em><\/strong>. And with Yngwie Malmsteen<\/strong>, Morbid<\/strong> and Hammerfall<\/strong>, the fruitful exploration of new ground wouldn\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of explorers: The Viking heritage has been an important source of inspiration ever since their childhood. The brothers\u2019 emotional connection to people of a remote past, people with  whom they share everlasting human challenges, was destined to find an outlet in their  music. As a consequence, the brothers merged 70s Hard Rock with Viking settings and  sentiments, resulting in the band\u2019s distinctive style of music, lyrics and artwork for their  album covers: Viking Metal \u2013 a style which came to inspire later bands in Sweden and  elsewhere, a style that now has many followers around the globe. However, although  the Viking themes have always been a salient trait in HEAVY LOAD\u2019s songwriting, some of  their songs rendered stories with other settings. No matter the setting, though, all songs have their source deep down in the brothers\u2019 emotional life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.heavyload-sweden.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Album release Riders of the Ancient Storm on October 6thFeature-packed Luxury Edition incl. brand new Viking saga!Pre-Order…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21262,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23,2],"tags":[3255],"class_list":["post-21260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-news","category-news","tag-heavy-load"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21261,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21260\/revisions\/21261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}