Matti Alfonzetti has spent more than four decades making rock music, and apparently nobody has convinced him that big choruses, loud guitars and melodic hooks have reached their expiration date.
Good.
The Swedish vocalist will release his new studio album, Going for the Kill, on December 11 through Frontiers Music Srl, with first single “Runaway” offering the opening look at the record.
Alfonzetti isn’t particularly interested in disguising where the inspiration comes from.
“‘Going For The Kill’ is my way of paying tribute to 70s and 80s AOR rock which I grew up with,” he said. “I think any fan of that era will understand what this release is about.”
“Runaway,” meanwhile, gets an even simpler description from its creator.
“It’s pure Alfonzetti!”
Sometimes the marketing department can take the afternoon off.
Going for the Kill draws heavily from the melodic-rock and AOR traditions associated with bands and artists such as Foreigner, FM, Def Leppard, Bryan Adams and Alias, pairing those influences with contemporary production rather than treating the record like something recovered from a studio vault in 1987.
Alfonzetti handles considerably more than the microphone on the album, performing lead and backing vocals along with bass, rhythm guitars and keyboards. He’s joined by Staffan Brodén on drums and Martin Jepsen Andersen on lead guitar, while Dante Alfonzetti contributes bass to the title track and “When The Gods Play Rock n’ Roll.”
It’s another chapter in a career stretching back to the 1980s, when Alfonzetti first gained attention with Bam Bam Boys. He later fronted Jagged Edge and Skintrade before building a solo catalog that includes Ready and Machine. His résumé also includes work with Impera, Red White & Blues and Road to Ruin.
Four decades later, Going for the Kill doesn’t sound like an artist attempting to distance himself from the records that made him want to play music in the first place.
Quite the opposite.
There are plenty of musicians determined to reinvent themselves with every album.
Alfonzetti apparently looked at four decades of melodic rock, turned up the guitars and decided the wheel was working just fine.
Going for the Kill arrives December 11 through Frontiers Music Srl.
Information provided by Matti Alfonzetti’s publicity team.