{"id":30862,"date":"2013-07-15T16:32:41","date_gmt":"2013-07-15T21:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=30862"},"modified":"2014-02-08T08:36:55","modified_gmt":"2014-02-08T13:36:55","slug":"we-as-human-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2013\/we-as-human-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"We As Human | We As Human<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"WeAccording to some critics, commercial modern hard rock is a dying genre, gasping its last, suffering the same fate as hair-metal did circa. 1991. In other words, too many bands that all sound identical, stifling creativity and fostering an atmosphere of stagnation. And while there may be a kernel of truth in the accusations, reports of modern rock\u2019s demise are exaggerated. And thank God for that, because if the genre was dead, we wouldn\u2019t have this kick-ass album from We As Human (WAH).<\/p>\n

Now, being a Christian rock band, WAH might object to the term \u201ckick-ass,\u201d but no offense is intended and besides, the words \u201ckick\u201d and \u201cass\u201d are both in the Bible, so they can\u2019t be bad, right? Okay, digression concluded, moving on \u2026<\/p>\n

WAH were discovered by John Cooper of Skillet (who provides guest vocals on \u201cZombie,\u201d) and one listen is all it will take to make you realize why Cooper liked them so much\u2014they bear a strong resemblance to Skillet. Loud guitars, crunchy production, big hooks, anthemic choruses \u2026 yeah, it\u2019s all here and it\u2019s all very Skillet-esque (with some Breaking Benjamin and Papa Roach thrown in). But that should not be seen as a negative; Skillet are one of the best bands in modern rock right now, so if WAH are going to engage in emulation, why not emulate the best?<\/p>\n

The album hits hard and yet remains as readily accessible as a nymphomaniac wearing a mini-skirt and no panties swigging wine coolers in the back of a \u201957 Thunderbird parked on Lover\u2019s Lane. It sports plenty of fist-pumping energy, but in that radio-ready way, assisted by an admirable production job from Howard Benson, who knows how to make face-melting rockers sound slick and polished without sacrificing the aggression.<\/p>\n

The album explodes out of the gate with \u201cStrike Back,\u201d a big, testosterone-drenched modern hard rock anthem begging to be featured on a promo spot for the NFL thanks to chest-thumping heaviness and in-your-face lyrics like, \u201cThe bigger you are \/ The harder you fall \/ You\u2019re gonna suffer \/ Hit me, I\u2019ll hit you harder.\u201d The song would make an excellent companion piece to Disciple\u2019s \u201cGame On.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cZombie\u201d features John Cooper\u2019s distinctively raspy vocals and results in an album highlight. Not just because of Cooper, but because \u201cZombie\u201d dares to push against the modern hard rock format. It flirts with some industrial influence, slams out some wicked beats, and dishes out some serious heaviness with a side helping of snarling attitude.<\/p>\n

Just as good is \u201cTake the Bullets Away,\u201d featuring ex-Flyleaf singer Lacey Sturm, and if you think she sounded good on her final Flyleaf album, wait until you hear her tear up this track. The verse and bridge rumble with menacing heaviness before the chorus explodes into melodic bliss \u2026 and then that melody is beautifully destroyed at the chorus\u2019 climax by Lacey\u2019s powerful screams. <\/p>\n

So yeah, with all apologies and respect to the band\u2019s faith\u2014which is well represented lyrically, by the way\u2014WAH kick all kinds of ass. And you should have yours kicked if you\u2019re a modern hard rock fan who doesn\u2019t pick up a copy of this album.<\/p>\n

Genre: Modern Hard Rock, Christian rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nJustin Cordle (vocals)
\nAdam Osboren (drums)
\nJake Jones (guitar)
\nJustin Forshaw (guitar)
\nDave Draggoo (bass)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. Strike Back
\n2. Dead Man
\n3. Bring to Life
\n4. Let Me Drown
\n5. Zombie (feat. John Cooper)
\n6. We Fall Apart
\n7. Take the Bullets Away (feat. Lacey Sturm)
\n8. Taking Life
\n9. Sever
\n10. I Stand<\/p>\n

Label: Atlantic Records<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.facebook.com\/weashuman<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen – Senior Columnist — According to some critics, commercial modern hard rock is a dying genre, gasping its last, suffering the same fate as hair-metal did circa. 1991. In other words, too […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":30863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8704],"tags":[336,5176,2939,334,1228,7806],"class_list":{"0":"post-30862","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2013","8":"tag-cd","9":"tag-christian-rock","10":"tag-modern-hard-rock","11":"tag-review","12":"tag-skillet","13":"tag-we-as-human"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30862","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=30862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}