{"id":28265,"date":"2013-03-17T21:02:46","date_gmt":"2013-03-18T02:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=28265"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:34:10","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:34:10","slug":"upon-wings-afterlife-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/upon-wings-afterlife-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Upon Wings | Afterlife<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"UponAfterlife<\/em> is the debut from American operatic rock act Upon Wings. Built around the sweet soprano of Anne Autumn Erickson, the four tracks are a blending of operatic rock, pop, and Gothic metal.<\/p>\n

Despite being a relative unknown, Upon Wings has some pedigree. The band is fronted by classically-trained dramatic mezzo-soprano Anne Autumn Erickson, and Peter Tzaferis provides the drums. Brett Hestla (ex-Creed, Dark New Day) contributed backing vocals and some guitar, Kid Rock\u2019s Grammy-nominated mixing engineer Glenn Brown played keyboards, and well-respected guitarist Kevin Jardine lent his strings to the release. Hestla, Jardine, and Brown combined to handle recording and mixing duties. <\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, \u201cAfterlife\u201d is the standout track on the EP. The opener is a truly complete song, with strong vocals, thought provoking lyrics and outstanding musical performances by all involved. Anne Erickson uses her voice well, not focusing on the operatic end of her range. She approaches this song as more of a Gothic rock power ballad, and does not drown out the solid guitar work and great backing vocals that make this song complete. The listener will easily pick up the hints of her total range and power, but not be beaten over the head with it. \u201dYou Are My Weapon\u201d follows, but it is not as strong. Anne\u2019s voice is much more operatic and displays more range – and there is some spectacular guitar work, but her higher powered vocals are too big a contrast to the slower, almost plodding rhythm line. <\/p>\n

\u201dTake Away\u201d is another soft rocker with nice performances and a simple rhythm line, but the lyrics are a bit repetitive \u2013 in a sub three minute track the phrase \u201ctake away\u201d is used more than 20 times. This unfortunately has the effect of making the entire song seem to almost loop back on itself and run longer than its time. \u201cThe Dream (I\u2019m Only Happy When I\u2019m Sleeping)\u201d is very different form the other three \u2013 just vocals and keys. Anne show fine range, excellent vocal control and emotional depth. The simple arrangement gives this track an ethereal, other worldly feel – a great closer and a very well done piece.<\/p>\n

Overall, Afterlife<\/em> is well produced and recorded thanks to the veteran engineering team. The sound is warm and approachable, and the operatic vocals are kept nicely in check – never overpowering the music. Good songwriting is evident throughout, but the band needs to break away from the slower, plodding tempos and mix it up a bit. The music is excellent for a four song EP, but a greater variety of tone, tempo, and sound is needed before the band moves on to a full length release.<\/p>\n

Anne Erickson is a gifted singer and a good songwriter, and Upon Wings is an act with great potential. A little more seasoning and the addition of a wider variety of styles and pacing will come in time, and make Anne a vocalist to follow.<\/p>\n

Genre: Gothic Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nAnne Autumn Erickson (vocals)
\nGlenn Brown (keyboards)
\nKevin Jardine (guitars)
\nBrett Hestla (guitars, drums, backing vocals)
\nPeter Tzaferis (drums)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tAfterlife
\n2.\tYou Are My Weapon
\n3.\tTake Away
\n4.\tThe Dream (I’m Only Happy When I’m Sleeping)<\/p>\n

Label: Sword of the Spirit Records, LLC<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/uponwings.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 7\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Joe Mis – Senior Columnist — Afterlife is the debut from American operatic rock act Upon Wings. Built around the sweet soprano of Anne Autumn Erickson, the four tracks are a blending of operatic […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,2837,6641,334],"class_list":{"0":"post-28265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-arcrvws2013","7":"tag-cd","8":"tag-debut","9":"tag-operatic-rock","10":"tag-review"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28265\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}