ALBUM REVIEW: So Shall It Be – Freakshow

Brand new music and a brand new line-up means this is a brand new start for glam rock supergroup FREAKSHOW. A project led by MISS CRAZY frontman Ronnie Borchert, joined by members of bands such as QUIET RIOT and W.A.S.P., this is one for the fans of their heavy yet showcasing rock – those sounds that will transport the listener back to the days of big hair, tight clothes, and more glitter than in the blades of grass at a music festival. Supergroups have two ways of working: phenomenally well, or catastrophically badly; a case of “too many cooks” in the music world. There’s only one way to find out: have a taste test and see if it stays down.

Opening track Get It Ready jumps straight onto that nostalgia train with a sound that will remind even the youth of today’s rock scene of the decades before their existence on this planet. It’s fun, it’s fierce, it’s rough and it is – as the title suggests – ready. The sound is one that is seldom seen in rock nowadays, at least within the mainstream (with the possible exception of STEEL PANTHER‘s comedic take on the subgenre) and is definitely what rock should be, at least sometimes. It’s non-serious yet seriously catchy, with screeching guitar riffs and Borchert‘s powerful vocals leading everyone along the journey.

The unbeknownst listener would swear this track popped right out of a 70s compilation record from their parents’ collection, which shows that the group know their sound and their genre very well, even from their individual backgrounds with their respective previous projects. It can still be an exciting sound, even if it is one influenced by the past, but retro rock has always been a thing and it won’t ever stop while times still change and trends in music change with them.

The record’s title track keeps up this theme of throwing back to the heyday of glam rock, and is the standout performance of the record for Borchert‘s vocals due to the showing off of his range. This is only amplified with the addition of backing vocals harmonising behind him, found within the chorus to sound the most soulful yet the strongest. There is also something to be said for the ear-catching guitar solo by QUIET RIOT‘s own Carlos Cavazo – a skill in a rock tune even if in any other genre it would be considered outplayed or uncool in more recent times. However, this is rock, and a guitar solo is always a fantastic way to both show off talent from the guitarist and add that little extra edge to bring the track to the highest of praises. It’s been tested by time but like punk rock, it’ll never die and will never grow tiring. Everyone loves a solo they can play their air guitars to, and that includes So Shall It Be.

Lovin You, Lovin Me closes off the record and there is no doubt that this has been a wild ride. The sound brings back the shimmer and sequins of the heyday of glam rock, as well as the constant flashes of zebra print and neon fabrics that should legally be considered an assault on the visual sense. This track also cements that throughout the record, there is no climax. There is no moment of change, of drama if one wishes. This doesn’t invalidate the hard work and talent that’s shown on the record, as there is talent by the ton within FREAKSHOW, but this is where it begs the idea of if glam rock can still strike a chord like it did back in the days of parents and grandparents.

There will always be throwbacks, revivals, nostalgia; rock is known for its renaissances as the years and decades pass by. The 2020s is proving to be both a decade of bringing in the old and the new; however, these work as phases. With something like glam rock, a genre that has faced more mockery than serious reimagination in recent years, it is due its time to come back stronger than ever but that might not be right now.

This might still be a sound that is enjoyed by the older audiences, and not the younger ones. Youth in the rock scene today are more looking at renovations: combining rock and metal with rap, track and electronic elements to create a whole new path on this map to explore. Glam rock is a fun genre, especially when considering aesthetics alone. However, there is consideration needed on if this will be as successful of a record as it deserves just because it’s not of its time once again yet. And “yet” is the key word in that sentence.

FREAKSHOW have brought together some amazing musicians to create really good, incredibly exciting, electrifying music, and So Shall It Be deserves its time. But that time may still be to come.

Rating: 6/10

So Shall It Be is out now via Eonian Records.

Like FREAKSHOW on Facebook.