Swedish hard rock behemoths H.E.A.T. are back, and perhaps most importantly, they’ve brought original vocalist Kenny Leckremo with them…

I wasn’t sure about this move; however Leckremo turns everything he touches to gold on Force Majeure, rendering my misgivings pointless, and in the process turning in one of the most consistently impressive performances I’ve heard from a vocalist all year; Even more workaday material like meat n’spuds rocker Not For Sale improves tenfold with the presence of the Leckremo larynx, but on the premium tracks here? My word, the man turns them from merely superb to positively stratospheric.

Armed with a smooth, soulful voice that has a modern r n’b edge to it, Leckremo resembles the Godlike Joey Tempest on earth-shattering ballad One of Us and rabble-rousing rocker Hollywood alike, handling the changes in mood and tempo like an old pro twice his age.

Of course, as we often say here at Sentinel Daily, having the voice of an angel is pointless if you’re asked to waste it yodelling garbage, but there’s no danger of that here. Keyboardist/producer Jona Tee orchestrates the show on that front, and it has be said that the material here is as varied and satisfying as it ever has been on a H.E.A.T. album; Sure, the all out AOR barnstormers are obvious paydirt, but the band aren’t afraid to branch out if they feel the song to be strong enough. The pompous, parp-laden anthem Paramount comes straight out of left field – think of the most delirious, flag-waving Eurovision singalong you can think of, whack in a superb guitar solo, double it, and you still won’t come anywhere close to describing it – but ends up being a surprise winner, proving that in 2022 there is literally no area of melodic hard rock over which H.E.A.T. have not achieved absolute mastery. They even throw in a bit of musclebound power metal in the shape of Demon Eyes to stop saccharine levels becoming positively diabetic… And to remind you, if any reminding was needed, just how good a guitarist Dave Dalone is!

All killer, no filler is sadly a very overused term these days, but my word it serves to some up this superb album pretty well. Perfectly in fact. Many will throw their hats into the melodic hard rock ring this year; very few of those pieces of headwear will even manage to get in the same post code as H.E.A.T., let alone close…

Force Majeure is out now