ripdirtyrocker

 R.I.P. PATRIK JOHANSSON (1989-2026)

Patrik Johansson was an old internet friend of mine, somehow we never met in person (Sweden is bigger than some people seem to think) but we talked on and off online for about twenty years before he passed away earlier this year (2026). He stood out for his genuine interest in underground metal and he started collecting rare and obscure stuff. He was a few years younger than me so he started showing up in and around festivals in the early 2000s, as the underground scene in Sweden is somewhat small, everybody knows each other more or less so he were friends and met several of my friends even though we never met in person.

He became ill with some sort of blood cancer so he was ill on and off for 20 years, it never goes away I guess but he had better and worse days and a lot of days spent in hospitals. Unfortunately the disease caught up with him in 2026.

He was known as "Dirty Rocker" (From the song with the same name from NWOBHM band Battleaxe.) on different forums, in particular The Corroseum. We were in contact over facebook and sometimes we talked and exchanged mp3's. He was really into traditional heavy metal. He loved Heavy Load (Swe), Satan (UK), Gotham City (Swe), Killen (US) and Ritual (UK) to name a few bands that he always praised. He had the most impressive metal collection I've ever seen with a ton of cool NWOBHM and FWOSHM demos and singles. A Heavy Load tour jacket, posters and scarfs from the early 80's. Impressive stuff for sure.

I made a Spotify-playlist with songs that he liked and talked about on Facebook.

R.I.P. Dirty Rocker!