This Heat were an experimental rock band based in the Brixton district of London, England. They first received attention when famed DJ John Peel aired selections from a home-recorded demo tape they’d sent to him.

Two years later, their first album, This Heat, was released after several years of recording. Now widely recognized as an important, influential work of avant-garde post-punk, it was widely ignored at the time of its release.

Their second (and final) album, 1981’s Deceit, was recorded (in part) in an abandoned meat locker that the band affectionately named “Cold Storage”. A powerful, uncompromising treatise against nuclear proliferation, Deceit, also ignored in its time, is now considered a classic album.

The band broke up after a European tour in 1982. Its members, Charles Bullen, Charles Hayward and Gareth Williams, slowly moved on to other projects (respectively, Lifetones, Camberwell Now and Flaming Tunes).

They attempted to reform in December 2001, holding tentative rehearsals. Unfortunately, nothing came of this, as Gareth Williams died of cancer later that month.

The remaining two members are still active in music.