Wuthering Heights
Salt

Power metal is one of those genres that is most affected by the endless proliferation of clone bands that diminish its history and everything good that has been done in the past by key bands like Helloween, Blind Guardian, Gamma Ray, and others. A branch of metal that, for better or worse, has always attracted various fans, ready to shout masterpiece for a good album or declare the genre dead for yet another failure. The Danish band Wuthering Heights are one of those groups that, despite the challenges of the genre, still manage to surprise with a variety of tones and a musical freshness rarely seen today. Their musical and artistic confirmation arrives with this Salt, an album that marked a great release in the genre for this 2010.

A mature work that confirms the positive trend initiated in the past by the band with CDs like "Far from the Madding Crowd" and "The Shadow Cabinet." The strength of Wuthering Heights lies in their ability to fuse prog, heavy, and power together, generating a style entirely personal which is gold to fans' ears compared to the usual rehashing of the patterns that made the genre great. It's worth noting that the power metal from these Danes is not strictly the classic kind: rather than focusing on keyboards and Kiske-like voices, Wuthering Heights aim at riffs, complex vocal lines, long and evocative compositions. Compared to "The Shadow Cabinet," the progressive inserts have decreased in favor of folk elements, giving the entire work a maritime atmosphere akin to Running Wild. All elements that we can find right away in the duo "The Desperate Poet" and "The Mad Sailor." Two songs that have enviable musical freshness and very fitting melodies. "The Mad Sailor" represents one of the peaks of the album thanks also to a stylistic variety wonderfully blended with the proposed melodies, crowned by a chorus that finally captures attention.

The real strength of Salt lies in having no style dropouts. The tracks are undoubtedly of notable quality, making the album durable in its appeal. Other great examples of Wuthering Heights' music are the last two songs. "Water of Life" is a ballad with a country/medieval flavor, while the concluding "Lost at Sea" is the summary of what has been said and done so far by the band. An exquisite suite, with a powerful chorus, complex riffs that alternate skillfully throughout the song, excellent atmospheric inserts. In short, a bit of everything to conclude an album that, four years after the last "The Shadow Cabinet," confirms how this band is one of the few worthy alternatives to the great European power groups and beyond.

Wuthering Heights have made the definitive leap in quality with Salt, thanks also to a cohesive band and the excellent performance behind the microphone of singer Nils Patrik Johansson. A diverse and powerful album in which the band expresses its power/prog in nine tracks of great artistic level. They definitely represent one of the few innovative bands in the genre and, despite a record market now saturated with immense junk, still manage to give a semblance of dignity to a genre almost entirely dead...

1. "Away" (1:27)
2. "The Desperate Poet" (6:28)
3. "The Mad Sailor" (6:19)
4. "The Last Tribe" (7:25)
5. "Tears" (5:55)
6. "Weather The Storm" (6:53)
7. "The Field" (5:58)
8. "Water Of Life" (2:06)
9. "Lost At Sea" (16:38)