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Having gone down the concept album route on 2018’s ‘A Dying Machine’, Mark Tremonti has returned to a more traditional album structure on new album ‘Marching In Time’; the fifth outing for his solo band known simply as Tremonti. Twelve tracks with zero connection (excluding the fact that they are bloody massive) that roll into one pounding beast of an album.
With Michael “Elvis” Baskette in his usual position at the production console, ‘Marching In Time’ sounds impressive from the first few down-tuned moments of opening track ‘A World Away’. What Baskette excels at is making an album gigantic sounding, but without any loss of clarity; ‘A World Away’ can be turned all the way up to 11 and every lyric, every vocal hook (and there are many), every drum beat from the magical Ryan Bennett, can all be heard with perfect clarity – and Mark Tremonti’s deliciously clean vocals soar higher on each outing. The riffage on the opening track – oh my, oh my, my, my. Powerful and heavy in places, melodic in others, it’s almost a thrashier Foo Fighters, and Tremonti does make it look effortless. Likewise, take the thrashy riffs, and pounding breakdown out of ‘Now And Forever’ and the bones of a Dave Grohl anthem is simmering away quite nicely. Quite proggy in places, it is a track that grows larger the louder the volume goes.
Propelled forward at pace by the stellar drum work from Bennett, and including some neat effects in the background that could be an outtake from a John Carpenter soundtrack, ‘Thrown Further’ is a total riot. Uplifting vocals from Tremonti are becoming a trademark of his solo material, and here they are fantastic, as they also are on ‘Let That Be Us’. Bennett doesn’t slow down and his machine-gun drumming on ‘Let That Be Us’ is damn special and larger-than-life enough to awaken the air drummer in all of us (ditto ‘In One Piece’). ‘The Last One Of Us’ benefits from some clean, acoustic guitar lines and more of those subtle effects in the background (maybe even a synth or two?), Tremonti’s soaring vocals (again) steal the show. ‘Bleak’ begins like it could live up to its name, but once the main body of the song springs to life around the one-minute mark then it becomes full of rich color rather than simply black and white. One of the cornerstones of the live show perchance? If not, then it certainly deserves to be. One track that will certainly be an important moment of the live show is the epic seven-minute plus title track; perhaps the most “Alter Bridge” of the twelve featured tracks on the album, this one…this one is perfection. Special mention to the fine band that Mark Tremonti has assembled, mighty fine indeed.
In a similar way to how Joe Bonamassa’s studio output is becoming less about his guitar playing, and more about how strong his vocals have become, ‘Marching In Time’ highlights Tremonti’s growth as a vocalist in the nine years since the debut Tremonti album ‘All I Was’. And that’s not a suggestion that both Bonamassa’s and Tremonti’s guitar talents have somehow dulled, far from it, there are so many top-quality riffs, guitar breaks, and solos packed into ‘Marching In Time’ that at times it is dazzling. But when you have someone so revered for their main talent (in this case, guitar) then sometimes anything else can often be overlooked, with that in mind, Mark Tremonti deserves great credit for the work that he has put in with his vocals and the end result is undoubtedly his strongest vocal work to date, on an album that delivers time-after-time.
Marching In Time is released via Napalm Records on September 24th, pre-order here: https://smarturl.it/MarchingInTime.
To commemorate the release of Marching In Time, Tremonti – comprised of Mark Tremonti (vocals/guitars), Eric Friedman (guitars), Tanner Keegan (bass) and Ryan Bennett (drums) – will be performing their first ever livestream, broadcast via NoCap Shows on the album release date (September 24th). The livestream will begin at 9pm ET / 6pm PT / 2am BST and will be available for the entire week following the premiere. The show setlist will be comprised of songs from the new album as well as fan favourites from the previous four albums. Tickets for the livestream are currently on sale and available HERE.
Review – Dave
Photo credit – Scott Diussa
