H.E.A.T
Into the Great Unknown

They are heading into the great unknown, Swedish melodic rock heroes H.E.A.T are doing that. It is their fifth studio album and it was recording during some questionable journey to Thailand. I personally haven’t really been paying that much attention to them as they have generally made quite generic albums during their years, but album number five is somewhat different and as the band says themselves: you can’t keep doing the same thing over and over. You have to break some new ground and bend the genre rules etc. that is always a good thing to do and that makes this the most relevant album by these guys so far. And it is really the first time they make an album that feels like something a little bit exciting and not just another melodic rock album with some energy.

The music is well produced, the singer is good and the performances are strong. The music is a mixture between energetic melodic hard rock tunes and some calmer songs, there are also some little bit different additions like some dancey and discoish tunes here and there. It is a decent variation of songs during the ten tracks and 45 minutes we receive from the guys. And it is a somewhat fresher approach than some other bands has on offer, which is always positive news. But I think that the tempo is too much lost at times and the album suffers a little because of that. There are parts that one can clearly do without. For example, I think that they could use a speedier second song to follow their smack in the face opener. There are some more niggles here and there but overall I think that it is a solid effort and more fresh than many other bands within this genre.

There are some great hits on this album and some that are not so great, I think that I could do without the fourth track Time on Our Side that they used as a single but also Shit City and We Rule that feels like fillers, perhaps they could have left those outside the album. There are some other small niggles that I don’t quite like but then the opener is a great energetic smack straight between the eyes, and the ending pair are also great songs, especially the anthemic epic that is the ending title track. So we have some excellent hits on the album as well, making it a rather exciting and most of all a promising album because if the band continues to explore the variation and the ideas they have on this album I am sure that they will offer something extremely exciting in the future, this album is both strong and shows great promise.

Thumbs up I would claim, it is a strong album with some really strong hits and some not so strong hits. Fans of the band and the melodic rock genre will probably find this to be a rather strong release. I like it but it has its flaws and therefore the rating might not be the highest but thumbs up for the daring and the quality of the best tracks really makes it an album well worth checking out.

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