Death or Glory

Serious silliness from Sweden, but we could all use some quality Nordic cheese sometimes. In fact, Heavy Load may be the first Swedish metal band – their debut, Full Speed at High Level, came out the same year as metal forger Stained Class. This 1982 ode to the NWOBHM originally released only in Europe and Japan. Appropriate audiences. A Viking fights a polar bear on the side of somebody’s van on the cover, perfectly setting the stage for songs about Vikings, the glory of metal, and the literal use of an axe (guitar) as a sword. If it sounds funny, it is, but it’s delivered with enough gusto to help this stand out from any number of other raiding parties. Their seventies hard rock experience helps infuse this with grooves as deep as the axe (weapon) slashes on the killer ursine.