H.E.A.T – Force Majeure (2022) HQ

Swedish ’80s inspired Melodic Hard Rock heroes H.E.A.T return nest Friday with new studio album “Force Majeure” and with its 11 golden tracks the guys deliver the rockin’ summer soundtrack for 2022.
Two years after “H.E.A.T II,” the band once again presents an album that simply… kicks ass. Since the band’s early days, starting from their song “1000 miles” – a huge hit in their Scandinavian home in 2009, the press and fans has been praising each of the band’s albums as one of the best rock albums in its respective year of release.
Now H.E.A.T returns with their original lead-singer Kenny Leckremo, taking everyone on an adrenaline ride through ‘H.E.A.T City’. Not only sonically but also visually the band cranks it up a notch. For the music videos as well as the whole art theme & aesthetic, a vibrant fictional world has been built, creating an exciting surrounding for the band’s energetic album.
“Force Majeure” is Melodic Rock close to perfection – into everyone’s Best Of list of the year for sure.

”Force Majeure” is the first album in over a decade to feature H.E.A.T’s original vocalist Kenny Leckremo, it’s borderline impossible not to like him. He’s an excellent singer with a strong, soulful voice for this type of music. You can feel the electricity Kenny has brought with him to this band when he returned: these songs are energetic and powerful, the excitement the band has right now comes across in the songs.
If the opening track “Back To The Rhythm” doesn’t get you moving I’d be surprised, this song is epic. It starts out with a compressed synth beat before kicking down the door with hard hitting drums, some fast, melodic guitar picking and then comes the awesome melody and groove that carries the song and Kenny sounds better than he ever did before, his vocals just giving the song extra groove and energy.

“Nationwide” starts with a borderline Motley Crue riff and picks up the pace by the time the vocals kick in, I also detect a slight Winger influence on this song. This song very much represents the sound they’ve evolved over the past few albums and wouldn’t feel out of place on ‘Address the Nation’.
“Tainted Blood” is a mid-tempo rocker that again has a strong 80s US influence but filtered through the grander sound that defines this band, Kenny sings “Can’t you see? There’s a force inside of me” and that’s no exaggeration, his energy on this album is infectious.

“Hollywood” is H.E.A.T doing what they do best: intricate, melodic, hard hitting ear candy AOR. This song has in my opinion one of the catchiest choruses the band has ever written, the guitar solo on this is fantastic, a tune designed to be performed live.
“Harder to Breathe” returns to the Swede’s midtempo paced type of melodies yet still the nerve is all over it. It has a 1988-89 British AOR feel, and Kenny shines with the vocal arrangements while the guitar solo is excellent.

“Not for Sale” is an uptempo rocker that will get you moving, the melody and pace of this song is exciting, as well as the guitar playing. Easily one of the best songs on the album.
H.E.A.T shift gears for “One of Us”, a huge power ballad with pianos which gets midpaced creating a great atmosphere. It’s the only slow tune on the CD, let’s say a semi-ballad. Whichever the case, it’s awesome.

“Hold Your Fire” is pure H.E.A.T doing late 80s melodic hard rock, with both US and American influences. Listen to this song and tell me if it doesn’t reminds you Europe’s ‘Prisoners in Paradise’ era. The chorus is incredible. It’s a song that demands to be turned up loud and would make a great addition to their live set.
“Paramount” is the real curveball here, musically it’s somewhere between Danger Danger and Scandinavian Pop from early Nineties. Yeah, it’s not a song you expect from these guys but it’s a good one all the same, and works great in the track list.

“Demon Eyes” is H.E.A.T on steroids, and believe it or not there’s some Helloween on it. The rhythm section gets crazy and speedy, the guitars harder, and Kenny very powerful. Call me crazy again, but I hear some Rainbow here as well… listen to the mid-section of the song. H.E.A.T tries something different again… and succeed! The song kills.
Closer “Wings of an Aeroplane” is a great number – darn, I can’t find a filler on this album. It’s a midtempo rocker where the dizzying guitar techniques on display are impressive. In fact all the band find room to shine on this song.

A lot of incredible bands have come from Sweden, that country is arguably ground zero for some of the best rock and metal in the world for the last couple of decades, H.E.A.T is one of the very best acts to emerge from there – and in the world of melodic hard rock they are the band to beat.
”Force Majeure” is our my opinion one of their very best albums. The band is on fire and the songs on a musical level extremely impressive. It’s varied, dynamic, always entertaining.
With the return of Kenny Leckremo this is ‘real’ H.E.A.T: you can feel an excitement in the songs, the sound of a band really enjoying themselves and that always produces great results.
We can’t recommended ”Force Majeure” enough… one of the ‘albums of the year’.
AWESOME

01 – Back To The Rhythm
02 – Nationwide
03 – Tainted Blood
04 – Hollywood
05 – Harder To Breathe
06 – Not For Sale
07 – One Of Us
08 – Hold Your Fire
09 – Paramount
10 – Demon Eyes
11 – Wings Of An Aeroplane

Jona Tee – keyboards, backing vocals
Jimmy Jay – bass, backing vocals
Don Crash – drums, backing vocals
Dave Dalone – guitars, backing vocals
Kenny Leckremo – lead vocals, guitar

Pre Order
www.amazon.com/Force-Majeure-H-T/dp/B09VZFB72S