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Atlas: World In Motion (EP)

Melodic Hard Rock/AOR

3.5/5.0

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Unsigned/Self-released
Review: Craig Hartranft
Added: 23.08.2017

Hailing from Manchester, Atlas was created by keyboard player and lyricist James Thorley. After designing several demos he recruited four additional musicians from the Manchester area, Craig Wells (Vocals), Howie Little (Guitar), John Moss (Guitar), and Christian Redfearn (Bass), to help him craft full songs. The result is their first EP of four songs World In Motion.

Atlas

The short description of the Atlas sound is simply AOR melodic hard rock in the classic tradition. To embellish this a little more, their songs have an equally strong guitar and keyboard presence: the former in the ambitious solos, the latter in melodic piano lines. Additionally, the song composition can lean towards melodic progressive rock, notably within Lost In The Moment, which has a jazz fusion-like breakdown after the midpoint. It's the best song here, and also an indicator of where their future musical direction should go.

Alternatively, a song like Alexandria, while trying to be prog-ish, simply sounded busy throughout. It sounded like the guitar line was fighting its way out of the arrangement just to get to a solo. Mostly, however, Atlas and their songs speak more to the "pop" side of AOR melodic rock. Think Eclipse, W.E.T. or classic Toto, especially within the song Cross The Line. As for the vocals, at times Wells seemed either buried in the arrangement (Change Of Heart) or fighting to rise above it (Alexandria). He was better heard in Cross The Line and Lost In The Moment, my favorite songs here. Nevertheless, Atlas' World In Motion is an interesting listen and a promising start for this young band. Hopefully, there's more to come in the future. Recommended. Kudos as well for the classy album art.

Atlas' World In Motion is an interesting listen and a promising start for this young band. Hopefully, there's more to come in the future. Recommended.

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Formed in 1999 by singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Erik Martensson, Sweden's Eclipse is well into their third decade of making music. In the recent past, their recordings and reputation have ... [ Read More ]