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Not one to rest on his laurels or put his feet up while having a break from his day job, Alter Bridge riff master and chief face-melter Mark Tremonti has found the time to ready a brand new Tremonti album. ‘A Dying Machine’ is indeed the fourth album in six years from the band Tremonti, an altogether heavier project than Alter Bridge. With Eric Friedman on guitars and Garrett Whitlock on drums, Tremonti has developed and nurtured a side project that has taken quite a lot of people by surprise. Tickets were purchased for the debut UK tour on the strength that it was Mark Tremonti playing clubs that Alter Bridge had rapidly outgrown, a tour that provided a couple of surprises. One, no Alter Bridge tunes, and two, Mark Tremonti can bloody sing! In the six years since, his voice has grown stronger, he still melts faces, and he’s become a very confident frontman. Confident enough to think out of the box on album number four and go down the concept route. ‘A Dying Machine’ is also the name of the novel that Tremonti is writing, and the new album is loosely the soundtrack. Everything you would expect on a Tremonti album is present; the hard-hitting guitars, the propulsive drums, the instantly recognisable vocals of Tremonti himself… but it’s also an album of great variety. Early single ‘Take You With Me’ begins with a jaunty guitar tone that is almost Britrock in places (Stereophonics anyone?), but it quickly changes into a classic, full throttle metal riff and a pounding drum sound from Whitlock. Tremonti’s vocals are fresh and larger than life. As the song continues, you might pick up a bit of a Foo Fighters vibe, it shares that same type of happy-go-lucky feeling the Foos give off. On moments like ‘Trust’ and ‘The First The Last’, the band display a different side… a change of pace, especially on the latter, which has a strong, commercial sound. A very modern day rock track, with a U2-y guitar sound running in the background. Play this to someone, then follow it up with ‘From The Sky’, or ‘The Day When Legions Burned’, and they wouldn’t believe that it was the same band. With it being a Tremonti album, you want the riffs, and ‘A Dying Machine’ has them by the bucket load. After a short surf-guitar and militaristic drum intro, ‘Bringer Of War’ spews out of the speakers with a classic metal guitar sound and a stunning bass drum sound from Garrett Whitlock. The aforementioned ‘From The Sky’, as well as ‘Traipse’, offer more of the same, with ‘Traipse’ especially standing out with it’s gentle picking style rapidly turning into a metal masterclass. The title track is epic; Proggy in places, with lots of changes in direction and tempo throughout the six minutes plus. The type of song that just as you think you’ve got the hang of it, takes a turn and goes off in a totally unexpected direction. Album number four ends on a subdued, sinister note with the John Carpenter inspired instrumental ‘Found’. Cinematic in it’s execution, it’s a stunning way to end a very strong album. The world waits with intrepidation for Mark Tremonti or Myles Kennedy to make a lacklustre album, for that surely would be the sign that we’re all doomed! Available June 8th on Napalm Records Tremonti UK tour dates – Thu 28th Jun – GLASGOW O2 ABC Fri 29th Jun – LONDON O2 Shepherds Bush Empire Sat 30th Jun – BIRMINGHAM O2 Institute Mon 2nd Jul – BELFAST Limelight Tue 3rd Jul – DUBLIN Academy Thu 5th Jul – PORTSMOUTH Pyramids Review: Dave ]]>
