Greta Van Fleet Explain Sonic Change on Upcoming Album ‘The Battle at Garden’s Gate’

We've got a lot of rock and metal albums to look forward to hearing in 2021, and Greta Van Fleet's sophomore effort is one of them. Brothers Josh and Sam Kiszka explained the sonic change that the band went through when recording The Battle at Garden's Gate to Loudwire Nights, and why it's happening now instead of on their debut.

Just one listen to the album's first two singles "My Way, Soon" and "Age of Machine" is enough to determine that this second album is going to be quite different from its predecessor, 2018's Anthem of the Peaceful Army. While that first album's sound fell more in line with their earliest releases — EPs Black Smoke Rising and From the Fires — the new songs sound much darker and more thought-provoking.

"We knew we had to find people we trusted who could achieve the sound we were going for, which is going to be more cinematic. And that's just across the board, as far as the album is concerned," Josh Kiszka said.

The band started working on some of the new songs not too long after the release of Anthem of the Peaceful Army.

"We were kind of starting with a fresh slate," the singer continued. "[The Battle at Garden's Gate] was, in conversation, an album we wanted to make in the beginning. But… I don't think we would think that that would work as well initially, as it would now after having some kind of ongoing narrative or relationship with all of these people around the world after all of our travels."

The brothers agreed that having been able to play around the world and have their music become more widely known has had an impact on how the new record sounds — which the frontman described as "a little bit more complex." He added that "Age of Machine" is more representative of the album as a whole than "My Way, Soon."

To hear more about the upcoming album and how the pandemic has affected the band, listen to the full interview above.