Who would have thought that in 2023 we would have the first Heavy Load album in 40 years in our hands? That’s definitely something that even their most fanatical fans wouldn’t have imagined. And yet their re-launch in 2017 seemed it got the ball rolling for the Swedes and here it is…
At first listen, what is clear is that what you hear is authentic. Unlike contemporary and obviously much later bands that revive an era of our favorite music in their sound, here we have a pure ’80s and ’70s atmosphere, as if these songs were locked in a capsule waiting to be released now. The truth is that some were in a capsule indeed, like “Walhalla Warrios”, which had appeared as a demo and was also played at UTHXIII. Some others had been recorded at Thunderoad Studios and resurrected using old analogue methods and equipment, while two of them are brand new.
The album opens with “Ride The Night”, which becomes an instant classic. The solid riff and the ageless melody perfectly builds up the first of several epics to follow. Also impressive is the arrangement of the strings in many parts of the album,which may seem out of place on paper,but listening to the songs it is absolutely fitting.
Up next we have the anthemic mid-tempo “We Rock The World”, written and sung by Styrbjörn… It reminded me of Uriah Heep for some reason. The only thing I can say for sure is that it comes from the ’70s, as does the guitar solo it contains.
“Walhalla Warriors”: a majestic anthem with the perfectly fitting accompaniment of violins. This song could also be called a “classic Heavy Load”, since it carries the DNA of the Swedish legends. An absolute highlight is the bass solo somewhere in the middle and its “dialogue” with the guitar, while at the same time the drums make fills that bring back at once all the magic that our favorite music had in the past golden decades, with all the instruments playing the leading role and none of them just filling in repeating the same motif.
Οn “Angel Dark” Heavy Load strokes the throttle, as the tempo gets a little faster, although the song has many changes in rhythm and melody, which brings progressive rock to mind. The almost choral vocals again build a magical atmosphere that sucks you in.
“Slave No More”, the heaviest song of “Riders Of The Ancient Storm”, which could easily be said to be reminiscent of Black Sabbath, if there were no keyboards. What’s impressive is the “asymmetrical” guitar riff that goes through the song and the nightmarish keyboards, while Styrbjörn’s drums thunder faster and faster. Songs like this aren’t written anymore, because that mold is broken. And yet, both this and the next one, are the two newest songs written for this album.
“Raven Is Calling”: after the slow and mysterious “Slave No More”, it comes up to speed with Styrbjörn again on vocals. Here, the guitars rage in endless solos, with the strings accompanying the barrage superbly.
“Sail Away” the last song seems to be the most emotionally charged one, at least that’s what it sounds like. Is it the tone Ragne is singing? The lyrics? The whole attitude of the song? The incredible guitar solos? The feeling of climax it gives you after all the amazing tracks that came before knowing that this is the last one? All of that together? I don’t know! Hearing that song gave me goosebumps.
Finally, the CD features the instrumental bonus track, “Butterfly Whispering”, a 7 minute composition that doesn’t steal the show from the rest of the masterpiece, but acts as a short break before you put the album back on from the beginning.
As a general observation I would like to point out that listening to this album today, after listening to other productions of our time, one will realize that Heavy Load have made a production that doesn’t have such a high volume, so that everything can be heard loud, but they have given space to everything, they have let the dynamics of all the instruments to be reflected in the mix. The result is depth, atmosphere and ultimately a unique musical experience, which is so far from the “plastic” and loud productions that flood our stereos nowadays.
I wish the passion, the inspiration and creativity of those titans, Ragne Wahlquist (vocals, guitar), Styrbjörn Wahlquist (drums, vocals), Torbjörn Ragnesjö (bass) and the younger Niclas Sunnerberg (guitar) will give us some more awesome material like that in the near future!
