{"id":68603,"date":"2018-03-23T00:00:22","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T00:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=68603"},"modified":"2018-04-24T12:40:26","modified_gmt":"2018-04-24T12:40:26","slug":"album-review-wet-earthrage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-wet-earthrage\/","title":{"rendered":"W.E.T. – Earthrage (2018) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

W.E.T.
Earthrage<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nFrontiers (2018)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Swedish \/ American rockers W.E.T. is not a band I\u2019ve followed religiously since their debut self-titled opus in 2009. Maybe it was because of the long bouts of inactivity that caused me to drift away as the principal band members \u2013 Jeff Scott Soto (lead vocals, Sons Of Apollo \/ ex-Talisman), Erik M\u00e5rtensson (guitar and vocals, Eclipse) and Robert S\u00e4ll (keyboards and guitar, Work Of Art) \u2013 were involved in other projects. But third album Earthrage<\/em> has landed on my lap and I\u2019m along for the ride.<\/p>\n

Soto, M\u00e5rtensson and S\u00e4ll are joined by guitarist Magnus Henriksson (Eclipse) and drummer Robban B\u00e4ck (ex-Eclipse), and together they\u2019ve concocted a delightful melodic rock opus, bereft of clich\u00e9 and instead packed with intelligent and well-crafted songs, melodious but with punch.<\/p>\n

Yes, a ballad or two is present; \u2018Heart Is On The Line\u2019 will literally tug on the heartstrings of even the hardiest of souls, while \u2018The Burning Pain Of Love\u2019 lives up to its title. But let\u2019s go back to the start with opener \u2018Watch The Fire\u2019. Beginning with an instant chug and militant charge, the twin vocal attack supplies soul and crystal clear subtlety before that pulsating anthemic chorus erupts in joyous fashion. And the solo from Magnus Henriksson is a joy to behold. But what else did you expect from such a team?<\/p>\n

And you just know what\u2019s coming as the album unravels. We get the nice tirade of rockers in the form of \u2018Burn\u2019 and \u2018Kings On Thunder Road\u2019, both upbeat designs brimming with catchiness which are contradicted by the lighter tones of \u2018Elegantly Wasted\u2019. This is one of the surprise gems of the album in its construction and features a chorus that hooks immediately and doesn\u2019t let go. Jeff Scott Soto really shines on this track, which features some nice keyboard tones too.<\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s time to knuckle down with the album\u2019s heaviest cut; the battering groove chug of \u2018Urgent\u2019, where a dark, brooding riff ensues before the glimmers of the simple yet effective chorus break up the mesh of steely guitar. And that\u2019s the wonder of W.E.T., a band so sublime in whatever it creates diversifying between up-tempo rockers like \u2018Dangerous\u2019, hinting at that Eclipse design with its riffing and then blazing chorus, to the concluding \u2018The Never-Ending Retraceable Dream\u2019, an epic track of lush melodies and summery guitar tones.<\/p>\n

W.E.T. employ a classic formula of hooky guitars, powerful yet soulful techniques and seemingly simple, yet at times unearthly song writing methods. The bridge between commercial arena rock and yet more cutting, deeply grooved tunes is effortlessly constructed throughout. And while it\u2019s far from being a heavy metal album, or at times even a hard rock affair, Earthrage<\/em> remains candy to the ears; a premium slice of AOR that isn\u2019t afraid to burn as well as caress.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

W.E.T.Earthrage Frontiers (2018)Rating: 8\/10 Swedish \/ American rockers W.E.T. is not a band I\u2019ve followed religiously since their debut self-titled opus in 2009. Maybe it was because of the long bouts of inactivity that caused me to drift away as the principal band members \u2013 Jeff Scott Soto (lead vocals, Sons Of Apollo \/ ex-Talisman), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,3954],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-w-e-t"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68603"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68605,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68603\/revisions\/68605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}