Tag: Magnus Henriksson

W.E.T. – ‘Apex’ (2025) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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As we now know as we are on their now fifth studio album, W.E.T. is a culmination of some great artist including Robert Sall of the band Work of Art (The “W”); Erik Martensson of the band Eclipses (The “E”) and Jeff Scott Soto of the band Talisman (The “T”). All three bands are Swedish bands and all on Frontiers so it made it easy to bring these three guys together. Rounding out the band are Magnus Henriksson (Eclipse); Jamie Borger (Talisman) and Andreas Passmark (Work of Art & Royal Hunt). All in some shape, form or fashion have been a small part of one of the three founding bands.

The album was released on March 28, 2025 a good 5 years after their last release and way too long between albums. I am sure getting these guys schedules to all coincide at the same time is not an easy task, but they managed it thankfully. A band I thought was going to be a one-off project now has 5 albums and a live album spanning over 16 years since the release of the debut back in 2009. If you love solid, melodic hard rock, this will not disappoint. And as usual, Erik Martensson is handling the productions so you know the sound is going to be amazing and it is.

The album opens strong with “Believer” and it is worth every minute we’ve waited since the last release. Jeff sounds amazing and I have to admit this is his wheelhouse and my favorite style of singing for me. The guitar solo on here is blistering fast and just rips right through the song. The drums are pounding and all is immense and powerful. The sound is more Eclipse than Talisman or Work of Art, but I’m good with that. Erik does most of the writing so that Eclipse influence is going to flow through.

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Eclipse – ‘Wired’ (2021) – Album Review

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If it wasn’t for Jeff Scott Soto, I probably would’ve never heard of this band. Jeff isn’t in Eclipse, but he is in a band called W.E.T. which had members from Talisman, Work of Art and Eclipse. Through that connection, I went down the rabbit hole of Eclipse and lead singer Erik Martensson who was in W.E.T. Funny enough, he was the guitarist in W.E.T. and not the singer (well, with the exception of a few songs). And now I am a huge fan of Eclipse as a result of diving in to that said rabbit hole.

I have a number of their albums, but finally got a hold of their 2021 album called ‘Wired’. It was released on October 8, 2021, at least in Japan it was that date as that is the edition I have in my collection. ‘Wired’ was the band’s 9th studio album and has Erik Martensson on vocals, Magnus Henriksson on guitar, Philip Crusner on drums and Victor Crusner on bass. In Japan, the album was released on Avalon Records, but elsewhere around the world, it was on Frontiers Records. If you aren’t familiar with them, Eclipse are a melodic hard rock band out of Sweden and they understand how to deliver heavy rock anthems with gang vocal choruses, ripping solos and catchy, yet simple, lyrics.

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W.E.T. – ‘Retransmission’ (2021) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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As we now know as we are now on their fourth studio album, W.E.T. is a culmination of some great artist including Robert Sall of the band Work of Art (The “W”); Erik Martensson of the band Eclipses (The “E”) and Jeff Scott Soto of the band Talisman (The “T”). All three bands are Swedish bands and all on Frontiers so it made it easy to bring these three guys together. Rounding out the band are Magnus Henriksson and Robban Back both from the band Eclipse as well. And a new face to the band with Andreas Passmark (Royal Hunt) will handle the bass duties.

The album was released on January 22, 2021 right slap dab during the COVID pandemic. So, no touring sadly. However, at this point in the pandemic, band’s were still delaying albums and we are so grateful that W.E.T. did not. Their fourth studio album, ‘Retransmission’, sees Erik still at the helm and this time, the guitar is king a little more than it has in the past. But don’t worry, if you are expecting to hear W.E.T., you will in spades as you still get melodic rock, 80’s anthemic AOR and solid music throughout still drenched in keyboards and smothered with great melodies and vocals from the great Jeff Scott Soto. They have become AC/DC in a sort of way with the fact that all the albums sounds the same, but in a very good way. I think people might be upset if they changed their sound, thankfully, they did not. Just punched it up, polished it off and delivered another spectacular release. Let’s see how it holds up.

“Big Boys Don’t Cry” comes screaming out of the gates with its bombastic drums, ear-splitting guitars and as is usually the blueprint, you get both Erik and Jeff on vocals for this first song and it is a scorcher. The melodies and harmonies between the two are better than ever. The anthemic beast of a song shows that W.E.T. have not lost a step in the three years since their last release. They come out swinging with this one.

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W.E.T. – ‘Earthrage’ (2018) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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Almost a decade earlier, Serafino Perugino of Frontiers Records, thought a supergroup with Jeff Scott Soto doing Journey type AOR music would be a smart idea. He is notorious for putting all these great musicians together for so-called supergroups and some would say he does it WAY TOO MUCH! And I would agree, except for W.E.T. W.E.T. is a culmination of some great artist including Robert Sall of the band Work of Art (The “W”); Erik Martensson of the band Eclipses (The “E”) and Jeff Scott Soto of the band Talisman (The “T”). All three bands are Swedish bands and all on Frontiers so it made it easy to bring these three guys together. Rounding out the band are Magnus Henriksson and Robban Back both from the band Eclipse as well. What most thought would be a one-off project has now turned in to 3 studio albums and one live album and we couldn’t be happier.

But, will the third time be the charm? Will this be as good or better than the first two or have they outlived their usefulness? The answer to those questions is that this band keeps getting better and better with age. They are like a fine wine and although there is a little cheese in this sound, the album gives us a group of songs that has so many hooks that the US Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a warning about that fact. So, sit back and get ready to get caught up in the music hook, line and sinker. And I am sure all that sounded as bad as it felt writing it. Since I’m only writing bad jokes at this point, lets get to the music.

The album opens with the stellar first single “Watch the Fire” and mine it is something to behold. It opens with an atmospheric keyboard sound, then the guitars and drums come roaring in and then we get Erik’s vocals to kick off the song and Jeff joins in as well. Another fantastic duet between the two and it is shame this is the only song they do it on, but what a song. The melodies, the harmonies, the hook-ridden chorus, the wicked guitar solo, it is melodic rock at its absolute best!! This is one of the best songs they have done on the three albums.

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W.E.T. – ‘One Live – In Stockholm’ (2014) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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The band W.E.T. consisting of Robert Sall (Work of Art), Erik Martensson (Eclipse) and Jeff Scott Soto (Talisman) was originally going to be a one off project. However, the success of their debut and the fun had by the three main guys has turned in to a band. With two albums under their belt, the band hit the road and for only their second show ever as a band, it was captured in video and released as both a Live Double CD and a beautifully filmed DVD. What we get is ‘One Live – In Stockholm’!!

Recorded on January 17, 2013 at a really small club in Stockholm, Sweden called the Debaser Club and the reason behind the small venue is interesting. The guys only were expecting less than 100 people and so they figured a smaller venue would still look full on camera. What they got was hundreds of people and they had to delay the show by an hour to make sure everyone got in that wanted to (and hopefully legally could for fire codes and all). The band’s second album, ‘Rise Up’, hadn’t been released yet, but it was about too so the band had 2 full albums of material to now draw from plus they few in several surprises along the way. And to top it off, the CD version of the show has two bonus tracks of previously unreleased songs from the last album. Now, there is absolutely no reason a fan of this band wouldn’t want it. A live show on 2 CDs, two bonus studio tracks and a DVD of the show…DAMN!! What is not to like about this release.

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W.E.T. – ‘Rise Up’ (2013) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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W.E.T. includes Robert Sall of the band Work of Art (The “W”); Erik Martensson of the band Eclipses (The “E”) and Jeff Scott Soto of the band Talisman (The “T”). All three bands are Swedish bands and all on Frontiers so it made it easy to bring these three guys together. They were originally going to be a one-off project, never tour and never do another album. Well, they did a small tour and here we are now reviewing their 2nd album, ‘Rise’. And this time, they are giving more credit to Robben Black and Magnus Henriksson as full time members. Both guys are also from the band Eclipse along with Erik.

The album came out on Frontiers Records since it was all Serafino Perugino’s idea anyway. It was released on February 22, 2013 and was actually produced by Mr. Erik Martennsson himself. Along with the songwriting, guitar playing, bass playing, keyboards, he was rather busy on this album. But Erik wasn’t alone on the songwriting as Robert Sal was heavily involved as well as Jeff Scott Soto and Magnus Henriksson. Come to think of it, everyone who did songwriting on the debut, pretty much contributed here as well. The sound on this album didn’t change, it is pure 80’s melodic rock or AOR if you want. Think Journey, Bon Jovi and the like and you pretty much have an idea of what this album will sound like.

The album opens with “Walk Away”, a lusciously sounding lick and then some heavy drums goes right in to a groove that brings it all together. Soto’s vocals are so smooth and slick you are transported to another era. With a hook that has you singing along as you ride down the rode with this beautiful melodic rock extravaganza.

Then we get the delicious “Learn to Live Again” which is a duet between Erik and Jeff and it is nothing short of delightful. You get more of the same hummable, singable magic as they figure, if it ain’t broke, why fix it. Jeff, again, sounds fantastic with his almost falsetto singing at times, and with this wicked riffs and a killer solo backing him up, it is more greatness.

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W.E.T. – ‘W.E.T.’ (2009) – Album Review (The Jeff Scott Soto Series)

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After Jeff Scott Soto was let go from Journey, Serafino Perugino of Frontiers Records really wanted Jeff to record an album a pure hard/melodic rock album that is the same vein of Journey. Jeff had different ideas. Jeff had been working on his solo album ‘Beautiful Mess’ which was a far cry from that type of music. However, Jeff agreed but on one condition. That condition was that ‘Beautiful Mess’ was released first…and it was.

Serafino also had the idea of doing a supergroup with Jeff in it. When he heard the first handful of songs, Jeff was really in to it and signed up. It also helped who else was in the band. The original name of the band was called Lost in the Shadows and I don’t think anyone liked that name at all. They come up with the name W.E.T. and that was because who was in the band. That included Robert Sall of the band Work of Art (The “W”); Erik Martensson of the band Eclipses (The “E”) and Jeff Scott Soto of the band Talisman (The “T”). All three bands are Swedish bands and all on Frontiers so it made it easy to bring these three guys together.

The songs were written by a number of writers, but Erik and Robert wrote a majority of the songs and Jeff wrote the lyrics. Magnus Henriksson was also involved with writing along with Johan Becker and Miqeal Persson. On instruments, of course Erik and Robert played, Jeff sang, but there were others. Magnus Henriksson from the band Eclipse played most of the lead guitars and Robben Black, also of Eclipse, played the drums and was actually the fourth member of the band and since he was in Eclipse, technically he is part of the “E” as well. This rag tag group of musicians actually pulled it off and brought one of the best Supergroups Frontiers has put together (and they have put together a lot and most are forgettable).

The band was only going to be a one-off project and were not going to tour. however, the fans wanted more. When Warrant pulled out of the the 2011 Firefest, they asked if W.E.T. would fill in. After a lot of phone calls and changed schedules they made it happen. The next thing you know, they agreed to do another album and the band played on. We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, so let’s dive in to the debut album called ‘W.E.T.’ (simple enough). The album came out on November 29, 2009 in Europe and the U.S. got it some time in 2010. The reception of the album was fantastic and it helped solidify me as a massive Soto fan. In fact, when I met Jeff back in April 2022, I brought 5 CD covers of my favorite Soto albums and this was one of them. As you can see above in the header photo, Jeff signed this CD for me. I think I now have about 7 of the albums signed by him.

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My Sunday Song – “Watch the Fire” by W.E.T.

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For My Sunday Song #288, we are going to tackle another song from the band W.E.T. This time around we are going to discuss “Watch the Fire” which is the opening track off their 2018 album ‘Earthrage’. If you remember from the earlier post, W.E.T. is comprised of Robert Sall of the band Work of Art, Erik Martensson of the band Eclispse and Jeff Scott Soto from the band Talisman. Take the first initial of each band and you have W.E.T. It also has 2 other members Magnus Henriksson and Robban Back. All are on the label Frontiers Records who brought the super group together. 

The song was written by Johan Becker, Miqael Persson and Erik Martensson. It is a dark song in that the person the song is about has been burned bad by either a girlfriend or it could be anyone as it doesn’t really delve into the who or what actually happened. All we know is the person has been deceived, lied to and hurt this person badly. The person is angry and telling those that hurt him that their day will come. Karma will catch up and when it does, he will be there to watch the fire and watch them burn. Doesn’t sound like he will throw any water on them to help them out, just gladly watch them burn. I would say he is pissed.

Musically, it is a hard, melodic rock song and what I love about it is that the vocals are shared with Erik and Jeff whose voices compliment each other so well. It is a catchy chorus and and when you hear Soto you instantly connect and find yourself singing along instantly. The guitars are crunchy, the keyboards give it an even more melodic feel and the drums pound throughout. It is a modern rock song that is drenched in the old 80’s sound and I feel this could’ve been huge back in the day. Soto’s vocals are always on point with W.E.T. and I love the range he shows and how smooth his vocals can be. They are enticing and downright amazing in my book. One of my favorite groups he has been in as they are all so talented and the music is melodic which is what I love.

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My Sunday Song – “One Love” by W.E.T.

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For My Sunday Song #286 is the song “One Love” by the Jeff Scott Soto band called W.E.T. What is W.E.T.? Well, it is comprised of Robert Sall of the band Work of Art, Erik Martensson of the band Eclispse and Jeff Scott Soto from the band Talisman. Take the first initial of each band and you have W.E.T. It also has 2 other members Magnus Henriksson and Robban Back. All are on the label Frontiers Records who brought the super group together. The song is off the debut album from 2009 album simply called ‘W.E.T.’. What many were afraid would be a one album deal has turned in to four album and a live album album. A legit band.

The song “One Love” was written by Erik Martensson and Vivien Searcy and is simply about that one true love. Despite all the temptations out on the road, he knows he will never find someone like her and that she is his rock. Here love is what sustains him and she is that miracle sent form heaven. It is really sweet.

The song itself is a power ballad and a pretty great modern version of one. It opens with keyboards from Erik who also handles all rhythm guitar duties. The lead guitar and solo are from Magnus and it fits the song so well. The drums are from Robban and for some reason Mr. Sail is not on the lead for this one. Musically, it is pure melodic rock gold. However, the highlight are those smooth vocals from Jeff. He really delivers and emotional, heartfelt song that matches the lyrics. You can hear from these high notes the man has some pipes and can sing about anything. If this was released in the 80’s, this ballad would’ve been top of the charts. It is infectious, catchy and simply beautiful. Man, if Jeff would’ve stayed in Journey and they released an album, this is what it would sound like.

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