Mark Aceves of Zed to Release Solo Debut Magnum Dopus June 27
The end of next month will bring the first solo album from Zed bassist Mark Aceves, cleverly-titled Magnum Dopus, and the first single “Still Ain’t Dead,” is up now. That’s essentially what you need to know. Preorders are on Bandcamp. If you want to skip to the video, I get it.
If you do, you’ll find punk underwriting a lot of Aceves‘ craft in the sub-four-minute track. The structure is straight-ahead, the performance is tight and the vocals come through forward through the laptop speakers (which happens), but he’s dug into a process here all the same, and while it’s all rollerderby and good vibes here, there’s emotional heft to the proceedings throughout the LP as well as varying degrees of tonal density.
It’s going on six years since Zed released their latest album, Volume (review here), in 2019, and in the interim, the band have had to weather the passing of drummer Sean Boyles, which Aceves reportedly also touches on here.
The PR wire sent the following:
ACEVES Announces New Video and Debut Solo Album MAGNUM DOPUS on I:AND:I RECORDINGS
The longtime low-end thunder bringer for San Francisco Bay Area heavyweights ZED, Mark Aceves steps into the spotlight…
Magnum Dopus is released 27th June on I:AND:I Recordings
Pre-order: https://aceves.bandcamp.com/album/magnum-dopus
This June marks the official release of Magnum Dopus, the explosive debut solo album from ZED bassist and underground mainstay Mark Aceves.
Written in the aftermath of his father’s death and the tragic loss of close friend and bandmate Sean Boyles, Aceves poured every ounce of grief, resilience and hope into nine blistering tracks to help people move, scream, and heal.
“This isn’t a vanity side project, it’s a battle cry,” he explains. “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel; I’m trying to light it on fire and ride it into the apocalypse with a crooked smile. The songs on this album come from my heart, and it’s written with love, man. It’s for the fighters, the dreamers, and the beautifully broken. It’s loud. It’s real. And it’s just the beginning.”
Fans of Zed will be especially pleased to hear that Aceves hasn’t strayed too far from the raw and raucous grooves of his Bay Area brethren. A fireball of punk defiance, stoner swagger, and rock-and-roll soul — like a backstreet clash between QOTSA, AC/DC and The Bronx – Magnum Dopus is a raw cathartic blast of rebellion. From the gut-punch opener and Boyles tribute ‘The True and Indisputable Meaning of Rock and Roll’, to the defiant dancefloor anthem ‘Still Ain’t Dead’, the bittersweet ‘Love in the Time of Apocalypse’, and the poignant closer ‘For My Children’, the album is a riot of pure emotion.
Messy, honest, and unflinchingly human, Magnum Dopus by Aceves combines infectious hooks, heavy riffs and lyrics that bleed with meaning, and is released 27th June on I:AND:I. Pre-order here: https://aceves.bandcamp.com/album/magnum-dopus
1. The True and Indisputable Meaning of Rock and Roll
2. Still Ain’t Dead
3. Taxi Driver
4. Love in the Time of Apocalypse
5. Hail Mary
6. Just Your Disguise
7. Daisies
8. Faithful Man
9. For My Children
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https://aceves.bandcamp.com/
