For several years H.E.A.T. from Sweden are rumoured to be one of the best current melodic rock bands on the planet. So I figured it was about time I checked them out. And you know what, normally one should not believe the hype, but this might be the exemplary exception to the rule. This has turned out to be a damn fine slab of melodic rock music / AOR! The band (a sextet) is doing everything right here.
So we get the syrupy choruses, the addictive melodies, keyboard colouring all songs, enough guitar to rock (and flashy solos too!) and the rhythmic backbone of drums and bass to drive every song. The lead singer has a more than pleasant voice and still gets massive support from all the harmony vocals. And if by now you are thinking, oh well, then they probably just rip off the big names and steal their songs, you have got that wrong! Of course, in this genre it is neigh on impossible to be fully original, so you do hear influences from Toto, Journey and the like, but I never once thought, oh this is song X from band Y.No it is diverse, it is varied, it is just sounding damn good.
Convincing from start to finish, I want more!
