Metalite (SE)

About

Metalite bring a pop sensibility to power metal that most bands in the genre wouldn't dare attempt. Led by guitarist Edwin Premberg, the Stockholm outfit draws on influences like Amaranthe and Within Temptation, and Premberg has been upfront about his love of European pop music, seeing power metal as the one heavy metal subgenre where those instincts actually work. Their 2024 concept album Expedition One is a good example of the ambition at play: a 16 track record set in 2055 about colonizing an exoplanet, preceded by four singles and an EP. The band has had their share of turbulence, from COVID wiping out tours to drummer Lea Larsson departing after the Expedition One cycle. They eventually landed on Erik Junttila as their permanent drummer and hit the road again across Europe. Vocalist Erica Ohlsson came in with zero heavy metal background and has since become a driving voice in the band, even weighing in publicly on how AI is pushing acts to release new material more often. In May 2025 the band dropped a new single called We Stand Tall.