H.e.a.t

Emerging from Upplands Väsby in 2007, the Swedish ensemble H.E.A.T assembled its original lineup around Kenny Leckremo on vocals, guitarists Dave Dalone and Eric Rivers, keyboardist Jona Tee, bassist Jimmy Jay, and drummer Crash. Their brand of melodic hard rock drew from classic foundations and the glossy commercial metal of the late 1980s. After securing a deal with StormVox, the group issued its self-titled debut album in 2008 on the imprint owned by Swedish actor Peter Stormare. A competitive run at the 2009 Melodifestivalen propelled the record into Sweden’s Top Ten while the single “1000 Miles” climbed to the Top Five, establishing early favor among domestic and international melodic rock listeners.

The 2010 sophomore effort Freedom Rock earned a place on Classic Rock Magazine U.K.’s list of the year’s fifty best albums, yet marked Leckremo’s final recording with the band. Erik Grönwall stepped in as lead vocalist and made his recorded entrance on 2012’s Address the Nation, released via Sony’s Gain subsidiary; critics responded strongly, placing the album on multiple year-end Top Ten lists. Founding guitarist Dalone exited by 2014, after which the remaining members sharpened their hard-edged melodic approach on Tearing Down the Walls. Capturing that year’s European headline trek, the band taped a performance at London’s The Garage that became its first live album, Live in London, issued in early 2015.

Following Rivers’ departure in October 2016, Dalone rejoined to help shape 2017’s Into the Great Unknown, an album that tilted toward the pop-inflected side of the group’s hard rock palette. Three years afterward H.E.A.T returned with H.E.A.T II, reclaiming the heavier melodic rock character of its earliest releases.