W.E.T.
Album: Earthrage
Label: Frontiers Music srl
Genre: Melodic Rock
Release Date: March 23, 2018
4.5/5.0
Today is the day! W.E.T. have released their third album, Earthrage. It’s another masterpiece from these talented guys.
Their name, derived from Robert Säll (the “W” from Work of Art), Erik Mårtensson (the “E” from Eclipse) and Jeff Scott Soto (the “T” from Talisman and now also of Sons of Apollo), W.E.T. also includes Magnus Henriksson (Eclipse guitarist) and drummer Robban Bäck (current Mustasch drummer and former Eclipse drummer).
Earthrage has 11 amazingly well written, performed and mixed tracks. Throughout the album you will hear the infusion of writing styles and you instantly recognize which artist added their signature sound to each track. That being said, it’s amazing how these guys come together and blend their sound together into every W.E.T. album.
The album kicks off with “Watch The Fire”, the first single and video released off Earthrage. It’s the warm up track to get fans ready for what is to follow on the album. This track has a slower tempo that’s packed full of strong melodic rock. It’s then followed up by “Burn” that unleashes some old school melodic feel with an intro of keyboards and drums that add some meaty bass riffs that can be heard throughout this track, bass lovers you will dig this addition. The vocals are powerful in classic Jeff Scott Soto style and will make you want to join in and sing along. I could also feel the Mårtensson infusion heavily on this track that also includes some killer guitar riffage to make the listeners ears fully wet and hungry for the rest of the album to come.
What follows is nothing short of musical genius. Being a fan of other bands and projects of these artists, I could hear so many outside influences that had me pausing to catch what I had just heard. You’re going to hear the influences from Mårtensson‘s writing styles and Soto‘s solo work often in this album, but in a way that makes it uniquely W.E.T. “Kings On Thunder Road” and “Elegantly Wasted” are both old school melodic rock tracks with a softer feel to the tone, but when you get to “Urgent” that’s going to change a bit as it kicks off with an intense guitar intro that unleashes a bit of a gritty, heavy feel to energize the listeners along with a more forceful drumming tempo that has more of a punch than the previous two tracks. Add to some intense vocals and a killer guitar solo and this is one hell of a track to take notice of.
On “Dangerous” you will hear the return of the intentional heavy bass riffs blended in with powerful vocals and some really cool backing vocals you will not have heard on this album up until this track. In perfect placement in the track line up, “Calling Out Your Name” is next up and has more of that underlying bass riffage, not as heavy but definitely noticeable. This track has a nice tempo and vocals are simply smooth and singable.
“Heart Is On The Line” is one of my favorite tracks on this album. It’s the true love song done in traditional melodic rock ballad style, it’s big yet perfectly controlled and reserved. This song is sure to be a part of many upcoming weddings playlists. I’m not usually into ballads, but this one… It’s just a beautiful song with that perfect blend of sappiness and even has a really great guitar riff toward the mid/end part of the song.
“I Don’t Wanna Play That Game”, the guitar solo in this track has this killer almost bluesy, twangy feel to it that you will not hear on any other track on this album. It’s going to make you stop and hit repeat, I certainly did because I had to hear that one again… immediately. This was a really cool addition to this track that was already packed full of intense music and vocals. “The Burning Pain Of Love” starts out with this intense lower tone, the vocals in an almost whispering tone that breaks open around the :50 second mark in the track. The song becomes big, intent and ends a bit like it started out, but instead of going big it slowly faded away.
The guys wrap the album up with “The Never-Ending Retraceable Dream”. This song closes this album out on the most intense note. It takes everything they’ve done on Earthrage and ties it all together as it leads you to the last note of the song. Big vocals, powerful music tracks, guitar riffs that squeal with manic finger work blended in with backing vocals that sum up this entire album as a great display of musicianship and honest music that stays true to melodic rock.
In my opinion, whenever I hear of a project that includes Erik Mårtensson in the writing and producing, I am definitely going to listen to it. This is an artist that has a magical touch for music and there’s rarely anything that sounds bad if he’s been involved in the writing. So that alone, I knew this would be another great album, but then you throw in Jeff Scott Soto, Robert Säll, Magnus Henriksson, Robban Bäck and Thomas Larsson (guitars on “Urgent”) and you’ve got an album that in no way can go wrong. It’s just not possible. Earthrage is a melodic rock fans dream. I loved what W.E.T. did on this new album and melodic rock fans pick this album up without hesitation. This is a solid album that stays true to the melodic rock genre.
Tracklist:
Watch The Fire
Burn
Kings On Thunder Road
Elegantly Wasted
Urgent
Dangerous
Calling Out Your Name
Heart Is On The Line
I Don’t Wanna Play That Game
The Burning Pain Of Love
The Never-Ending Retraceable Dream
PRODUCED BY: ERIK MÅRTENSSON
STUDIO: BLOWOUT PRODUCTIONS
RECORDED BY: ERIK MÅRTENSSON
MIXED BY: ERIK MÅRTENSSON
MASTERED BY: ERIK MÅRTENSSON
BAND MEMBERS:
Erik Mårtensson: Guitar, bass, keyboards, vocals
Jeff Scott Soto: Vocals
Robert Säll: Keyboards
Magnus Henriksson: Guitar
Robban Bäck: Drums
Additional guitar solo on “Urgent”: Thomas Larsson
Follow W.E.T. Online: https://www.facebook.com/wetofficialpage
