Review: Heartwind – III

Pride & Joy Music (September 20^th, 2024)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

Heartwind has returned with their third album, the obviously titled ‘III’.  Unlike their previous two albums, the band opted to recruit several familiar singers of the melodic rock genre. The talent here is a who’s who of the melodic rock world and most of them bringing these songs to life with their extraordinary vocals.

The albums opens with one of my favorite singers of the modern melodic rock era. Jakob Samuel is reunited with his former guitarist from The Poodles, Henrik Bergqvist for the track ‘Warrior’. While the lyrics are a little simplistic for my tastes, the melody and Jakob’s harmonies with core guitarist Göran Engvall are anthemic in all the right ways. I don’t know if the intention was to come across as a gay pride anthem (not sure what else a “rainbow warrior” could be) but the song has quite the hook for a chorus.

This song is followed by a singer from one of the newest bands to arrive on the scene, the fabulous Remedy. Lead singer Robert van der Zwan takes on ‘Facing the Night’, a mid-tempo rocker that does not divulge from his full-time band. In fact, it sounds like the sister track to their song ‘Moon Has the Night’, from the recently released Remedy album, ‘Pleasure Beats the Pain’. Bottom line, if you dig that band, you will love this song.

The awesome Matti Alfonzetti tackles the most exhilarating track that follows, the Whitesnake-inspired rocker ‘Struck by Love’. This song was apparently released in December of last year, but I’m just hearing it now. It’s pulse-pounding rhythm is familiar yet exciting. Matti’s soulful approach and conviction to the track just wins you over.

It’s Track 4 where the album slightly falters for me, and it’s due to a personal bias. I have never been a fan of House of Shakira singer Andreas Novak, and ‘Now is the Time’ does nothing to dissuade my opinion. I find his vocal range limiting. While he sounds good in the verses, he comes off flat in the chorus, making for an unexciting refrain of the title. It drags the whole song down. If you dig his vocals, your feelings on the song will certainly be different.

Both Rick Altzi and Thomas Vikström are featured twice on this release, with ‘Cry for Love’ and ‘Blink of an Eye’ respectfully being the stronger of the two songs they cover, but by far one of my favorites happens to be by a singer I was not familiar with. Nina Söderquist is new to me, but she sounds marvelous with her vocal mix of one part Bonnie Tyler and one part Issa. The structure of ‘Crying in the Rain‘ lends itself to a slow build, with some simple keyboards and her vocals to start. The track builds from there, as instruments creep in and build to an explosive second chorus. I love it when a singer can sell the pain of a song with a vocal delivery, and that is exactly what she does. She was on their previous albums, so I will certainly give those a spin shortly.

The strength of the album is found in the array of singers featured on this release. If you love these artists the way that I do, then I can unequivocally state that all the material here is strong and worthy of being sung by these outstanding vocalists. The band have written some terrific tracks, so be sure to check this album out upon release. It will be on repeat in my car for weeks to come.

Tracklist:

1. Warrior
2. Facing the Night
3. Struck By Love
4. Now is the Time
5. One Reason
6. Blink of an Eye
7. Cry For Love
8. Brothers
9. Crying in the Rain
10. Rocking Heroes

1. Warrior
Lead vocals: Jakob Samuel
Guitars: Henrik Bergqvist
Backing vocals: Göran Engvall, Jakob Samuel
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Nalle Påhlsson
Keyboards: Mikael Rosengren

2. Facing The Night
Lead vocals: Robert van der Zwan
Guitars: Fredrik Folkare
Backing vocals: Robert van der Zwan, Göran Engvall
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Fredrik Folkare
Keyboards: Mikael Rosengren

3. Struck by Love
Lead vocals: Matti Alfonzetti
Guitars: Göran Engvall
Backing vocals: Göran Engvall, Mattias Falkendal, Matti Alfonzetti
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Göran Engvall
Hammond: Mikael Rosengren

4. Now is the Time
Lead vocals: Andreas Novak
Guitars: Carl Berglund, Göran Engvall
Backing vocals: Andreas Novak
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Göran Engvall
Keyboards: Mikael Rosengren

5. One Reason
Lead vocals: Rick Altzi
Guitars: Göran Engvall
Backing vocals: Göran Engvall, Rick Altzi
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Nalle Påhlsson
Keyboards: Mikael Rosengren

6. Blink of an Eye
Lead vocals: Thomas Vikström
Guitars: Göran Engvall
Backing vocals: Thomas Vikström
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Göran Engvall
Keyboards: Mikael Rosengren

7. Cry for Love
Lead vocals: Rick Altzi
Guitars: Göran Engvall
Backing vocals: Göran Engvall, Rick Altzi
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Nalle Påhlsson
Keyboards: Mikael Rosengren

8. Brothers
Lead vocals: Thomas Vikström
Guitars: Fredrik Folkare
Backing vocals: Thomas Vikström
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Fredrik Folkare
Keyboards: Mikael Rosengren

9. Crying in the Rain
Lead vocals: Nina Söderquist
Guitars: Göran Engvall
Backing vocals: Göran Engvall, Nina Söderquist
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Göran Engvall
Keyboards: Göran Engvall

10. Rocking Heroes
Lead vocals: Matt Marinelli
Guitars: Göran Engvall
Guitar solo: Fredrik Folkare
Backing vocals: Göran Engvall
Drums: Peter Svensson
Bass: Göran Engvall
Keyboards: Mikael Rosengren

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