BATTLE READY
WHEN GRETA VAN FLEET first exploded onto the scene a few years back, the band was lauded as much for its riff-centric, groove-heavy approach to rock and roll — something of a rarity in this day and age — as it was scrutinized for its stylistic adherence to rock icons like Led Zeppelin.
Early hits like “Highway Tune” and “Safari Song” certainly traded on blues-drenched boogie riffage, crashing rhythms and gloriously histrionic vocals. But on releases like the 2017 EPs Black Smoke Rising and From the Fires, as well as their 2018 debut full-length, Anthem of the Peaceful Army, the young quartet from Frankenmuth, Michigan, demonstrated that it was more than a mere arena-rock retread, stretching out into pastoral, folky meanderings, proggy epics, country-tinged jams and dark-hued, metal-adjacent workouts, among numerous other styles.
Even so, nothing in Greta Van Fleet’s short past could prepare listeners for the new The Battle at Garden’s Gate (Republic). It’s a sprawling and challenging collection of tunes that for the most part leaves behind the upbeat, uptempo hard rock of previous releases in favor of a darker, denser and overall deeper experience. “There’s a lot of beauty in the album, and there’s a lot of savagery in there, too,” says guitarist Jake Kiszka, who plays in the group with his brothers Josh (vocals) and Sam (bass) and drummer Danny Wagner.
Beauty and savagery do abound, shows Greta Van Fleet swinging for the sonic fences at every turn, and in the process hitting more than a few out of the park. According to Kiszka, that musical ambition is baked into the Greta Van Fleet mindset. “The rules are just a framework,” he says about adhering to rock-and-roll traditions. “You have to break them in order to create what doesn’t already exist.”
