Rossos (Swe) - "Live in Kiruna" demo, 1982

A number of the best bands were one-offs that cut one demo and then promptly folded. Originating in Kiruna, the northernmost city in Sweden (approximately 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle), Rossos were one such band. In the early 80s, as a direct result of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal explosion occuring a few miles west of the Scandinavian countries, Sweden experienced its own wave of heavy metal bands popping up. While none of them received the fame outside of the Swedish borders that their British counterparts did, there was a very healthy scene which produced a number of classic recordings. However, many of these bands hailed from parts of the country which were far less isolated, and could likely network, trade tapes, and play gigs and in general have far more opportunities than a band that far north could.

Aside from their location, not too much is known about the band; they were around for a brief point in time, recorded this on what is apparently a Swedish radio station, and then at sometime later called it quits. Which is an absolutely shame, as this material is easily in the top tier of quality of early heavy metal bands coming from Sweden along with Heavy Load and Crystal Pride.

For a live demo, the band got quite a heavy sound for this recording, especially in 1982. The guitars are very thick, and the vocals are delivered in a strong, confident manner; I've heard this band compared to Gotham City, which would be an apt comparison musically, but the strong vocals really sets them apart from that band. The band plays in a mostly mid-tempo style during the first three tracks, and goes into a heavier, almost speed metal number for the final track "Stronger than You". All of the songs are excellently put together with great senses of melody and flow. The band clearly knew their limitations, and the band plays in a very composed and tight fashion, yet still retains a very youthful energy. One exception to the band playing tight is band starting off time making a mistake at the beginning of "Where are You?", bringing the song to an abrupt halt and bring the audience to an outburst of laughter. Apparently the banter following this moment (and through the rest of the recording) is rather entertaining if one can speak Swedish, which I unfortunately cannot.

If there was any band that deserved a reissue treatment, it is Rossos. For the caliber of music these guys were playing, its a damn shame that they are so criminally underrated and overlooked. Considering Kiruna's size of less than 20,000 people, its somewhat easy to see why they probably weren't too popular in the time that they are active, but in today's world where heavy metal music like this has a much larger cult following, this is one recording that begs for a vinyl pressing. This can easily stand on its own not only against the Swedish high-water marks, but also against what the rest of the world was doing at the same time.