Formation and early days (1981–1985) The band was founded in
Stockholm in 1981 as "
The Boys" by singer Robert Ernlund and guitarists Anders "Gary" Wikstrom and Leif "Lillen" Liljegren, a former member of punk rockers
KSMB, but it was not until drummer Mats "Dalton" Dahlberg joined the band in the summer of 1983 that the band began to gain a following. Dalton had attained some contacts with Swedish
PolyGram Records, which at the time was looking for a new Swedish
hard rock band to sign. Around the same time bass player Tomas Lind joined and the band began to record a demo tape. When asked in early interviews who influenced their sound the band members said that they were heavily influenced by bands such as
Whitesnake,
Journey,
Kiss and
Van Halen The band's demo tape landed them a deal with
Mercury Records and they started recording their debut album
Scratch and Bite, changing their name to Treat. The first single released from the album was "Too Wild"; the single received much airplay in Sweden and took the Swedish hardrock scene by surprise. Europe's vocalist
Rolf Magnus Joakim Larsson said in an interview that when he heard the song he knew it would be a hit so a couple of days later he wrote the song "The Final Countdown" as a rival to their single because there is rivalry in music. At the same time "Too Wild" was released, bassist Tomas Lind left the band and was replaced by Kenneth Sivertsson, former bass player with the band
Factory who had a couple of hits in Sweden in the late 1970s. The band released
Scratch and Bite in the summer of 1985 and toured all over Sweden, but in August drummer Mats Dahlberg quit the band to form his own glam metal outfit Dalton, and was soon replaced with Leif Sundin who later played with
Six Feet Under. The album did badly in the charts and was a commercial disappointment. The band toured in Japan in 1990 in support of the album, but achieved little success. This led lead singer Robert Ernlund to leave the band, as he was tired of the band's lack of success.
Self-titled album and breakup (1991–1993) In late 1990, the band replaced Ernlund with current
Candlemass singer
Mats Levén, who had previously sung with the band
Swedish Erotica and recorded their last album of the 1990s. The self-titled album
Treat was released in 1992 and again failed to gain any success for the band and led to the band's break-up on 26 March 1993.
Reunion (2006–present) In 2005, a compilation album was released called
Weapons of Choice, which sold surprisingly well around the world and led to the band reforming with the 1989 line-up plus Nalle Påhlsson on bass. The band then signed a deal with
Universal and played at the
Sweden Rock Festival on 10 June 2006. On 19 March 2010, the band released their reunion album
Coup de Grace which was a great success for the band and has led to them touring the world for the first time since the 1980s. The album received positive reviews from the press. In July 2014, Treat played the Väsby Rock festival in
Upplands Väsby, Sweden. Treat released their album,
Ghost of Graceland on 13 April 2016. Their eighth album,
Tunguska, was released in 2018. Their latest album to date,
The Endgame, was released in 2022. == Members ==