Ace Frehley, Soulfly, Greta Van Fleet + More
Here are some of the new albums that drop today:
Ace Frehley – Spaceman
Ace is back with his fourth solo album since returning from his self-imposed asylum. It is his third with new material on eOne, the other Origins Vol. 1 was a covers album.
If you count the 78 solo album, this is Ace’s eighth full-length album of solo material, so he put out four albums plus an EP before not releasing anything for a while and as mentioned above four after coming back. To paraphrase Aaron and Chris from the Decibel Geek Podcast, who thought Ace would be releasing more material in the last decade than Kiss?
Given how much material Kiss has released, Ace has released one more album than they have in the last 20 years, let that sink in. Spaceman was named by Gene Simmons, and Gene co-wrote two different tracks, the opening song “Without You I’m Nothing” and “Your Wish Is My Command”. A definite pick-up for any Ace fan.
Soulfly – Ritual
Max is back and he told you so! Mr. Cavalera and his tribe, have been very consistent over the years, and the incorporation of Marc Rizzo only helped kick things up a notch. All you have to do is realize that Marc has also been a part Cavalera Conspiracy to see his importance to Max.
Ritual is another punishing album, which has guest spots from Lamb Of God’s Randy Blythe, and Immolation’s Ross Dolan. This is Max’s 11th Soulfly album and continues to offer a lot of the things you’ve come to love from the former Sepultura frontman.
Greta Van Fleet – Anthem Of The Peaceful Army
Do people love them because they sound so much like Led Zeppelin? Do people love them because they’re a “new band” that could save rock n roll? Does it matter so long as you dig their music? Anthem Of The Peaceful Army is the band’s first full-length album, and there is already a lot riding on them.
No pressure right? For those that don’t know, the band is made up of the Kiszka brothers, plus a drummer, who for the last four-plus years has been Danny Wagner. I would be shocked if this isn’t the highest-charting album of this lot, perhaps even top 5 or 10.
Shining – Animal
The Norwegian band has been known as being a Blackjazz band. The band has always been a chameleon of sorts, always switching up what they do from album to album, mixing in black metal, straight-ahead metal, jazz, heavy guitars, acoustic guitars, saxophones, industrial overtones, you name it.
They’ve experimented with almost everything, and now with Animal, they take things a step forward, ditching the sax, the blackened metal edges, and a lot of the stylings they’ve had these past few years and going in a hard rock direction. My first thought was wow, this is going to piss a lot of people off, but then I thought, followers of this band should be used to them switching things up all the time.
And let’s be honest, if you can mix jazz and black metal, and have your fans enjoy it, doing hard rock isn’t a stretch. That said, I’m sure the purists are ready to bring out the pitchforks and torches.
Here are some other releases you might be interested in:
Aldo Nova – 2.0
Amaranthe – Helix
Chelsea Wolfe – Live At Roadburn 2012
Saliva – 10 Lives
Sunflower Dead – Coma
Article by Victor M. Ruiz of Mars Attacks Radio & Podcast, and Galaxy Of Geeks Podcast. Connect with him on Twitter: @vmr907
