H.E.A.T: ‘Into The Great Unknown’

H.E.A.T
INTO THE GREAT UNKNOWN
Released on September 22, 2017 (Ear Music)

Review:
One step forward with Tearing Down The Walls and two steps back with Into The Great Unknown. That is unfortunately what Swedish rockers H.E.A.T have done with their latest studio album. Frankly, I was going to completely write off H.E.A.T‘s latest album after listening to the first two songs — “Time On Our Side” and “Redefined” — that were released in advance of the album’s release but I had already pre-ordered the record. Quite simply, those two tracks were horrible compared to the songs on H.E.A.T‘s prior album Tearing Down The Walls. No need to say that H.E.A.T are not tearing down any walls with their latest album but rather tearing my ears with keyboard heavy sappy and rather dull (yet still melodic and catchy) tracks.

Before I go any further, I have to remind myself that H.E.A.T are actually a melodic rock group at heart with a full-time keyboardist in the band. Obviously, my expectations were way too high after the release of Tearing Down The Walls (which reached the #5 spot on the Sleaze Roxx’s Top Ten Albums of 2014) and the very good live album Live In London released the following year. As much as I like the sleaze genre, when a melodic rock group such as H.E.A.T or Eclipse can add some grit and attitude to their songs, the results can be out of this world. However, it is easy for a melodic rock group to slip back into the bland world of keyboard based rock and that’s exactly what H.E.A.T have done with the aptly named Into The Great Unknown.

Although there is no question that I am overall quite disappointed with H.E.A.T‘s latest studio album and some songs really — let’s face it — suck and test my patience like “We Rule” and “Time On Our Side”, the album is still pretty good. There are still some strong songs on it and Erik Grönwall is still a fantastic singer. What I really don’t understand is why H.E.A.T‘s first released songs from Into The Great Unknown were the keyboard lacklustre tracks “Time On Our Side” and “Redefined” which are arguably two of the three weakest tracks on the record. “Eye Of The Storm” is not that much better and the group shot a video for that one! Talk about not putting your best foot forward. Had H.E.A.T released the instantly likeable opening track “Bastard Of Society” (which is kind of a continuation of the songs on Tearing Down The Walls) or “Best Of The Broken” which builds and builds into an easily likeable catchy tune, my outlook going into the album would have been vastly different.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter since I gave Into The Great Unknown a real shot despite the disappointing lead up songs to the album’s release. Hopefully, H.E.A.T have not alienated others with those first few singles because there are some worthwhile tracks on the album that unfortunately the band has yet to promote. Into The Great Unknown sees H.E.A.T experimenting with more pop oriented songs that are sometimes quite heavy on the keyboards. It’s a turn that I was not expecting (or hoping) from the band. Hopefully, H.E.A.T will get back on track with their next studio album and add some grit to their music once again just like they did so well with their previous effort Tearing Down The Walls.

Track List:
01. Bastard Of Society
02. Redefined
03. Shit City
04. Time On Our Side
05. Best Of The Broken
06. Eye Of The Storm
07. Blind Leads The Blind
08. We Rule
09. Do You Want It?
10. Into The Great Unknown

Band Members:
Erik Grönwall – vocals
Sky Davids – guitar
Jimmy Jay – bass
Jona Tee – keyboards
Crash – drums, percussion

Production:
Produced and mixed by Tobias Lindell
Recorded by Tobias Lindell and Rhys Fletcher
Mastered by Henrik Jonsson

Band Websites:
Official Website
Facebook

Reviewed by Olivier for Sleaze Roxx, October 2017

H.E.A.T‘s “Eye Of The Storm” video:

H.E.A.T “Eye Of The Storm” Official Music Video

Two days before the release of their new studio album, H.E.A.T premieres the official music video for their brand new single “Eye Of The Storm” today.Pre-ord…

H.E.A.T‘s “Time On Our Side” lyric video:

H.E.A.T – Time On Our Side (Official Lyric Video)

H.E.A.T – Time On Our Side (Official Lyric Video)Time On Our Side, track number 4 on the album Into The Great Unknown by H.E.A.T🎵Stream/Download here: https…

H.E.A.T‘s “Redefined” studio footage video:

H.e.a.t. “Redefined” Studio Footage – New album OUT NOW!

Friday 22nd September 2017 sees the release of the long awaited new studio album “Into The Great Unknown” from the celebrated Swedish rock band H.E.A.T via e…