Sweden's first(?) and premier underground Heavy Metal fanzine, run by the industrious Lennart "Phantom" Larsson, who also contributed to numerous early zines throughout the world. Among many other things he also started up the Swedish HR/HM mag Backstage in the early 90’s. The fanzine was written in Swedish, but hear I give you an english translation.
SWEDEN IN FIGHT
We all know that England and America export an incredible number of good bands. Priest, Sabbath, Maiden, Saxon, Kiss, Anvil, Rods etc. Yes, they are all well-known to us.
So how does Sweden compare to these countries?
Most people probably think it is laughable to compare Sweden to the giants England and the USA.
In England and the USA there are probably thousands and thousands of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands.
How many are there in Sweden? 10? The exact number is impossible to say, but we know that there are several hundred.
Many of these bands may be punk bands who play the well-known songs for fun, but many of the bands are good bands who write their own songs but never get a chance to show what they are made of.
We therefore intend to cover a couple of really good Swedish hard rock or HM bands in each issue.
We do not intend to cover bands like Heavy Load, Europe and Thrash during SIF because they have come so far that they have secured record deals.
We at REDAX have heard between 40–45 different Swedish HR and HM bands and we think there are many good bands but also many that are useless.
What groups does Sweden currently have that are going home abroad?
Heavy Load is the safest card but E.F Band has also made a name for themselves abroad. Thrash, Europe, Overdrive and 220 Volt have released albums that are also available abroad.
The most famous of these bands is probably Thrash but we at HMM think Overdrive has made the best album by far. Other Swedish bands that have made a name for themselves abroad include Silver Mountain and High Level.
Silver Mountain from Skåne is and will probably be Sweden's rawest band with raw and brutal songs that are almost insane, they can almost be compared to Mercyful Fate and Venom when it comes to frenzy.
Rumor has it that they will release an album soon so keep your eyes open.
We also promise a report about SM in an upcoming issue.
Axewitch is also a heavy and good band that has released a Mini-Lp that is doing well abroad.
Mercy, Torch and Gotham City have also released five-song Mini-Lps that are good. I especially want to recommend Gotham City, which is a good band and they have also released a very good single.
Rising is a band from Vänersborg that I have seen myself and I was very impressed by their steamroller rock. They released a good single in 81.
Rapid Fire is a relatively new Swedish band that has released a 10-song Demo that is damn good, tracks like Gate of Hell, Only can see your face and Rapid Fire are very good.
The music is very reminiscent of old Sabbath and early Scorpions.
Then we have a lot of bands that have released singles, among them Stitch and Renegade are high class. There are some good Swedish Demos in circulation, Insane is one of the bands that has made a clearly acceptable one.
Crystal Pride is probably one of the few Swedish bands in the heavy rock genre that has a female vocalist.
Some other bands that can be mentioned include Neckrose, Shakespeare, Squetters and Onyx.
The latter is, to our knowledge, the only band that has released a hard rock single in Swedish.
We at HMM hope that you and all the other bands will get started and blow all the English and American B-bands off the stage. We want Sweden to be counted among the giants in the Metal world. We also hope for a great response from you.
SET THE STAGE ON FIRE
