VARIOUS ARTISTS – Swedish Meatballs Vols. 1 & 2: The Psychedelic Hard Rock Underground 1970-1977 (Subliminal Sounds, 2022)

 
Featured artists: Älgarna / Högtryck / Styv Kuling / Rabatt / Strike / Jan & Bert / Frozen Fire / Fire / Tranz / Paul Edoh's Class Breakers / Mogens Klyvare Hose Band / Ohlssons Grova / I Blomm
Swedish vocals, English vocals, instrumental
International relevance ***

Long before these two compilations were released, I was hoping that someone would get their hands dirty and get the work done. Who else would but Subliminal Sounds? Two volumes of Swedish 70s hard rock singles ranging from the rare to the impossible, some names completely unknown to me and most likely to a lot of others too. Some of it has been available in crappy rips on Youtube, but who the hell were Jan & Bert (Resonans), Paul Edoh's Class Breakers, Mogens Klyvare Hose Band and I Blomm? Among the better known names I spot Älgarna, Rabatt, Högtryck and Ohlssons Grova.

Released as two separate volumes but they should really be considered one entity. The first volume covers 1970 to 1977, the second 1971 to 1977, i.e. the golden age of Swedish hard rock, the years before squealing heavy metal washed over Sweden from the UK. Not to say that there wasn't any good heavy metal during the NWOBHM era and the Swedish counterpart FWOSHM (the First Wave Of Swedish Heavy Metal) because there was, but if I have to choose I'd go for the pre-HM years. (Those who want to dip their toes in the more obscure waters of FWOSHM might want to try ”Jobcentre Rejects, Vol. 4”.)

As always the case with comps like these, there are tracks you'd rather have swapped for something else, but the duds are few here and not that terrible so it's not really something to get hung up about. I'm more than delighted to see both tracks from Rabatt's exceedingly rare 1971 single here, ”X:et” and ”Look Till You Find”, which also happens to be the most psychedelic sounding on offer. Älgarna's ”Crowned King” sounds almost like Nature on a dark night (and better than Nature if you ask me), while Jan & Bert's ”Kan ljuset vända åter” is a tasty blend of psych, heavy rock, West Coast singing, jazz and progressive. Ohlssons Grova's ”Strange Infection” is a marvellous piece of blues-inflected heavy rock, while ”Mäskaktigt” by I Blomm is a proto-doom instrumental that hints at Black Sabbath and the underworld shadings of Bobby Liebling's Pentagram. I could go on naming names, but you get the drift: These are two volumes unmissable to anyone into 70s heavy rock, and to others as well.

Full album playlist (both volumes)