 |
| L-R: Leif “Leffe” Cuzner, Alex “Sassa” Hellid, Daniel “Dudde” Strachal – and Nicke’s legendary boombox. Photo by Steven Cuzner |
From Entombed's official Facebook page
Photo from 1986 at Smedsbo Summer Camp, Sweden.
But perhaps we better start from the beginning…
Leif “Leffe” Cuzner joined our class—4E at Igelbäckskolan in Kista—in the fall of ’83.
We were already a small but loud metal-loving crew, and it didn’t take long before he was all in too.
By summer ’86, me and Daniel “Dudde” Strachal had met Nicke through Leffe at summer camp—and that changed everything. Metallica, Slayer, Venom… Nicke brought the goods, and we were hooked.
This photo captures that moment: our first camp together, one of Nicke’s killer mixtapes blasting from his legendary boombox. Possibly life-altering stuff.
We were reminded of it all at the Total Metal exhibition opening in Stockholm, when we reconnected with Steven and Miya Cuzner. Some of Steven’s early photos were on display, and when we reached out for more, this memory came rushing back.
TRIVIA: Smedsbo’s story goes even deeper. During WWII, it was an internment camp for around 60 men, considered dangerous to naional security. Today, the traces are gone – but some ghosts stick around. And maybe a few riffs too.
_____________________________
Actual text thread between me (Alex) and Dudde (Daniel Strachal) while piecing the memory together:
A: D, this pic is from '86, right?
D: Exactly. Summer of ’86. Leffe already knew Nicke from the year before, and then you and I came along.I remember getting home from camp and going straight to Nicke’s in Vårberg instead of staying home. Fred, Kenny, and Luffarn were there too.They had such cool records—we just geeked out all night. Nicke had left camp a bit earlier—he was fed up with it, haha.
A: Haha, amazing. You remember triple what I do. Can I use your story in a post?
A: By the way, did Leffe start in 4th or 5th grade?
D: 4th grade. Fall ’83. From Kvarnbackaskolan. Wasn’t into metal at first, but got hooked fast.
D: Yeah, I’m a bit of a date nerd. Memory bank still intact.
A: Do you remember the camp’s name?
D: Smedsbo Barnkoloni.
The journey began long before we knew where it would lead.
Thanks to everyone who was part of it from day one. More stories to come…