Dansk version

Somehow I don’t think I’ve previously heard a promotor proclaiming ahead of a show that he’s probably going to cry.

Cry with joy mind you. And not because the ticket sales have gone to hell.

Likewise it’s not exactly an everyday occurrence that one of my readers make the cocksure statement that I’m "not gonna believe it" when experiencing a certain band.

Yeah, I think you could say that the expectations were hitting the clouds when the reason for all this – Swedish hard rock band H.E.A.T. – hit the stage at Copenhagen rock club High Voltage.

Even if I did not turn the faucets in my eyes up to "waterfall" or were unable to believe what I heard, H.E.A.T. easily justified all those big words said about them this night.

Those bloody swedes you might say (and mean it in the best possible taste). Because Swedish bands and musicians – from Amon Amarth to ABBA – almost always deliver with especially one thing on their minds: If something’s worth doing, it’s worth doing properly!

In that respect H.E.A.T. are definitely from Sweden. Yes; they’re absolutely brilliant. Good songs come oozing from every pore in their collective bodies and melodies – especially in this genre – are of paramount importance. Add to this that H.E.A.T. delivers with both ample heaviness and quite often a rare sense of swing (drummer Crash; take a bow!), and it is getting rather difficult to maintain your sense of misanthropy.

So to speak.

Comparisons to kindred spirits and fellow Swedes Europe are obvious but for me it didn’t really hit home just how good H.E.A.T. are until they played the glaringly Bon Jovi influenced "Enemy In Me" and "Eye For An Eye" back to back. Right there I realized that Bon Jovi themselves haven’t been this good since "Slippery When Wet" and then after all we’re talking almost 30 years ago!

Yep. I’m already looking forward to seeing H.E.A.T. again when I know the songs a bit better. Then I just might not really believe my ears. . .

Photo: Peter Svendsen