ALBUM REVIEW: Alter Bridge - "The Last Hero"

By: Richard Maw
 
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 07/10/2016
Label: Napalm Records

 

 

If you have any interest in the more commercial end of the rock and metal spectrum i.e. Metallica, Maiden, Soundgarden and so on then this album could be a fine intro to the band. If you are a fan already you will enjoy this one immensely. Alter Bridge are leading lights in modern rock and may well be the last of a dying breed.

 

“The Last Hero” CD//DD//LP track listing:

 

1). Show Me A Leader
2). The Writing On The Wall
3). The Other Side
4). My Champion
5). Poison In Your Veins
6). Cradle To The Grave
7). Losing Patience
8). This Side Of Fate
9). You Will Be Remembered
10). Crows On A Wire
11). Twilight
12). Island Of Fools
13). The Last Hero
14). Last Of Our Kind (Bonus Track)

 

The Review:

 

Alter Bridge are, of course, not sludge, or doom, or even metal really. They operate at the very start of the alternative/heavy music spectrum and could perhaps be described as modern hard rock- albeit with some metallic elements. Even though the band are all around the 40 years old mark, they are still one of the “younger” big bands and as such represent what can be achieved while playing real guitar music: you really can headline arenas if you get things right. After all, Iron Maiden aren't going to be around forever- and nor will Metallica.

 

“The Last Hero” finds the band in reflective mood and is the fifth album from the men who (sadly) made up the instrumental section of Creed (great musicians, mind) along with the prodigiously talented Myles Kennedy. “Show Me A Leader” kicks off with an intro and hooks galore there are  “woah-oh-woah-oh” Maiden-esque vocalisations, a huge solo, riffs and time and changes. In all, this is Alter Bridge's sound: melodic, sometimes heavy, most definitely rocking.

 

“The Writing On The Wall” is an up-tempo rocker with a big chorus, Kennedy's voice soaring. The album delivers two facets of the band in the first two tracks and does not stop there. “The Other Side” is slow and dark with more than a little Sabbath influence to the riffs. A storming and different track for the band with political and social commentary rather than their usual introspective leanings. This is great stuff.

 

“My Champion” screams “single” at you; hooks, positive vibes, anthemic sounds. The record sounds gorgeous, of course- as all Alter Bridge's albums have. The sound is thick, rich and vibrant with all instruments shining through in the mix. A slick monster of a track.

 

“Poison In Your Veins” turns up the heaviness- more akin to something from the recent Tremonti solo albums- and rocks along with intent and a big chorus. Each band member pulls their weight here, highlighting the fact that Alter Bridge have four superlative musicians in the line up. Again, for the big bands this is important. Think over the annals of rock history: weak links stand out. There are none here.

 

“Cradle to the Grave” is almost a throw back to some of the bands earlier work- more melodic, downbeat... but still wonderfully structured and delivered. Truthfully, I prefer the band's harder rocking material- but that is not to say that the more balladic stuff is without merit (see “Blackbird” in particular). “Losing Patience” ratchets up the riff factor and utilises interesting time changes and melodies. “This Side of Fate” shifts to more epic fare- slower tempos, elaborate soloing from Tremonti, and layers of guitars. It delivers the records most complex arrangement and production but does not quite reach the heights of “Blackbird” from 2007.

 

“You Will Be Remembered” is a ballad that is rather too American and anthemic for my tastes; perhaps it is a little too sweet. Naturally, the hooks are very strong though and you can certainly imagine this being played during a montage of a retiring NFL player- which could be a good thing, depending on your view point. Fortunately, “Crows on a Wire” comes back swinging with a fantastic riff, pinch harmonics and enough weight to appease those wanting to bang their heads. This is the material which the band excels at, in my view: heavy rock but still with melody. The band are operating at full whack here with nothing wasted over the four and half minutes.

 

“Twilight” shows another facet of the band- bitter sweet melodies and melancholic lyrical content. A fine track and sounds like an album closer to me. Again, this may be a strange comparison, but this is the second time in this review that I have mentioned Iron Maiden. I am not saying that the bands are alike, exactly, but both bands have a knack for writing complex but catchy music and Alter Bridge seems to have taken some pointers for vocal melodies and arrangements. “Island of Fools” features a kind of call and response arrangement to the riffage in the verses and then echoes the rolling riffs of “Cry of Achilles” from the preceding “Fortress” album. A fine up -tempo rocker to keep the listener awake down the back stretch.

 

The title track closes out this tour de force of modern rock music, stretching out over six and half minutes and mixing melody, muscle and even twin kick passages with an impressive dynamic range. “The Last Hero”, then, is a winner. By estimation the record is uniformly strong with only a balladic slip up here and there that is just not to my taste. It is excellently played, produced, arranged and realised and stands shoulder to shoulder with the band's best work prior (“ABIII” and “Fortress”). If you have any interest in the more commercial end of the rock and metal spectrum i.e. Metallica, Maiden, Soundgarden and so on then this album could be a fine intro to the band. If you are a fan already you will enjoy this one immensely. Alter Bridge are leading lights in modern rock and may well be the last of a dying breed. 

“The Last Hero” is available here

 

Band info: facebook

Tremonti - "Dust" (Album Review)

 By: Richard Maw

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 29/04/2016

Label: Fret12 

Certainly, “Dust” is every bit as good as the preceding two solo records and maybe even a bit better. It mixes metal, grunge, rock and hard rock together very effectively and could well act (as noted in my review of “Cauterize”) as a bridge for fans into more underground music. To summarise and put things simply: this is modern hard rock/metal of the highest quality. Anyone with an interest in the heavier side of great musicianship and song writing should find something to enjoy here

“Dust” CD//DD//LP track listing:

01. My Last Mistake
02. The Cage
03. Once Dead
04. Dust
05. Betray Me
06. Tore My Heart Out
07. Catching Fire
08. Never Wrong
09. Rising Storm
10. Unable To See

The Review:

Only one year after the excellent “Cauterize,” Mark Tremonti and his band return with another ten tracks; billed as a companion piece to “Cauterize.” Anyone fearful that this would be “Re-Load” to “Load “can settle down. It isn't.

“My Last Mistake” rumbles out of the gate with that mixture of heaviness and melody which fans of Tremonti's work will be familiar with. His guitar playing is as incredible as ever, while the vocals are very well delivered and produced (multi tracking, good backing, harmonies; no mere b-sides afterthought, this...)

The record continues with “The Cage”, which again exhibits some fearsome rhythm skills from Tremonti and changes pace effectively for the verse and main refrain. The sound is thick and crisp at the same time. Again, the drums have a real power to them (as they did on the previous two albums) and the bass is fully audible, underpinning the sound and giving it a real thickness. This is, in fact, the sound of modern rock; a kind of well produced melodic hybrid of rock and metal. Cracking solo too!

“Once Dead” keeps the energy levels right up there in the red before the melancholy title track comes in; acoustic guitars open proceedings and the track stays mean and moody from there. Similarly “Betray Me” is also melodic, but not without muscle, with a searing solo down the home straight.

“Tore My Heart Out” is, as the title suggests, a fairly dark affair- perhaps closer to Tremonti's day job in Alter Bridge- exhibiting as it does some strong vocal melodies to go with the downcast main riff. There are some nice melodic lead breaks in this one, too. The solos are not scrimped on either; a soaring and majestic beast it is. The track finishes with an unexpected change of tempo to thrash pace. Nicely done!

The opening of “Catching Fire” is full of foreboding sounds and then the track rocks out hard with lock-tight guitar and a similarly unified rhythm section. The time change half way through makes for an inspired run through a thrashing section of riffage. The strong hooks of “Never Wrong” work very well indeed as the bass roams all over the fretboard with a lovely warm sound.

The crushing mid tempo/double time riffs of “Rising Storm” see the band play together superbly and Tremonti's vocal shines too. Dynamics get some good usage in this one too. “Unable to See” is the tenth and final track and is a ballad- a shame, from my point of view, as Tremonti could have really brought home the album with a shredding finish. That said, it is a fine song and features, as usual, strong melodies, playing and soloing.

Certainly, “Dust” is every bit as good as the preceding two solo records and maybe even a bit better. It mixes metal, grunge, rock and hard rock together very effectively and could well act (as noted in my review of “Cauterize”) as a bridge for fans into more underground music. To summarise and put things simply: this is modern hard rock/metal of the highest quality. Anyone with an interest in the heavier side of great musicianship and song writing should find something to enjoy here. Business as usual for Mark Tremonti and band, then.

“Dust” is available now

Band info: facebook

The Sludgelord 'Sour 16' for July 2015

Welcome to The Sludgelord’s ‘Sour 16’. Each month, you the reader are unwittingly compiling a list of the top 16 records of the month, covering all genres of metal, but predominately the best the doom, sludge, stoner-psychedelic genres have to offer.  Is it chart? Not really.  To put it simply, the ‘Sour 16’ are the records you guys have been most interested in over the last month and checking out on this page.

So here is the The Sludgelord’s ‘Sour 16’ for July 2015, the 16 records you’re most looking forward too or are currently checking out.  Check em out, spread the word and perhaps revisit some records you may have overlooked.  

The results are compiled based on page views alone and calibrated into the list below. So without further ado, this is the ‘Sour 16’. So until next month, roll up, kick back, chug a beer and Hail the riff! All review links, are held under the artwork. (Total views at the time of publication highlighted in orange)

16) = The Nepalese Temple Ball – ‘Arbor’ (245)

‘How this band is not a household name is beyond my comprehension, but this album should go some way to making sure that happens.’

Review

16) = Dreadnought – ‘Bridging Realms’ (245)

‘The cinematic scope of Dreadnought’s music sounds like it should take a small orchestra to perform it.’

Review

14). Plaguewielder  - ‘Chambers of Death’ (252)

‘Ominously named, and equally ominous with their execution, Plaguewielder has no real give to their sound, the first track, ‘Existence is Our Exile’, simply shreds against the walls of your mind, with the torturous vocals raking like the nails of the dead against the inside of your skull.’

Review

13). Vattnet Viskar – ‘Settler’ (254)

‘This record is DENSE! With a massively thick tone, these songs sonically envelop you in billowing oppressive textures’

Review

12). Freedom Hawk – ‘Into your Mind’ (263)

‘Overall a very strong album that holds strong throughout; immense riffs and licks, explosive drumming, engaging vocals and solid bass playing- it doesn’t get much better.’

Review

11). Hair of the Dog – ‘The Siren’s Song’ (284)

‘The tone of the record is undeniably loud and heavy, but incorporates an atmosphere which is vibrant, full of energy and represents a band with a very bright future indeed’.

Review

10). Abrams – ‘Lust.Love.Loss’ (294)

‘Blending spiky guitar lines reminiscent of These Arms Are Snakes, plenty of weird Cave In style effects, angular post-hardcore aggression and no-nonsense stoner riffing, Abrams have created a compelling and addictive listen here.’

Review

9). Tremonti – ‘Cauterize’ (304)

‘It is not metal like Celtic Frost, certainly, but it is as metallic as bands like Black Label Society for instance.’

Review

8). Fogg – ‘High Testament’ (311)

‘If you like your music with heavy riffs, fuzz pedals in overdrive and mixed with various styles, Fogg are worth checking out.

Review

7). Goya – ‘Obelisk‘(326)

'Obelisk' is, in all, a thinking man’s doom metal record; it keeps you on your toes, always remains untamed, delivering uppercuts with complete conviction just when you think you’ve sussed them out.’

Review

6). Khemmis – ‘Absolution’ (334)

‘From the opening riff of the album you can pretty much tell ‘Absolution’ is great. Laying somewhere between Pallbearer and perhaps a downtempo Ghost, Khemmis' first full-length is one of the best albums you will hear this year, Period!!’

Review

5). A Trust Unclean  - 'Reality Relinquished' (341)

‘The whole EP is so energetic, inspiration seems to bleed from every available crevice; here is a band basking in a creative flourish.

Review

4). Weeed – ‘Our Guru Brings us the Black Master Sabbath’ (343)

‘Be it in the album’s closing track or all the tracks preceding, Weeed has made a potential classic stoner rock album that draws from familiar elements of the genre and has enough experimentation to give them a sound of their own.’

Review

3). Sweet Cobra – ‘Earth’ (354)

'Earth' will sit nicely in any collection and would add some melodic relief in between the usual tipple of sludge, doom, death metal and black metal. Brilliant.’

Review

2). Alustrium – ‘A Tunnel  to Eden’ (409)

Listening to "A Tunnel to Eden" I get the feeling that this might be the album that "makes" this band

Review

1). Gorgoroth – ‘Instinctus Bestialis’ (411)

‘Technical and precise, this album at times has a subtle yet palpable progressive tinge…’

Review

This list features reviews by Heather Blewett, Chris Tedor, Chris Bull, Victor Van Ommen, Philip Weller, Brian Mclean, Kat Hilton, Charlie Butler, Steve Howe, Hunter Young, Richard Maw & James Harris

Tremonti - 'Cauterize' (Album Review)

‘It is not metal like Celtic Frost, certainly, but it is as metallic as bands like Black Label Society for instance.’

Album Type: Full-Length

Date Released: 09/06/2015

Label: FRET12

‘Cauterize’ CD//DD track listing:

01. Radical Change
02. Flying Monkeys
03. Cauterize
04. Arm Yourself
05. Dark Trip
06. Another Heart
07. Fall Again
08. Tie The Noose
09. Sympathy
10. Providence

Tremonti is:

Mark Tremonti | Vocals, Guitars

Wolfgang Van Halen | Bass

Eric Freedman | Rhythm Guitar, vocals

Garrett Whitlock | Drums

Review:

Sludgelord... a blog for all things sludgy, doomy, sometimes even thrashy or deathy but always underground/alternative and often extreme. Why is a mainstream rock/metal record getting reviewed here?! Read on and find out...

Mark Tremonti, the prodigiously talented guitarist of Alter Bridge and (yes, sadly) Creed returns with this sophomore solo record which features none other than Van Halen offspring Wolfgang on bass. Mark's love of all things thrash is well documented (he professes an ongoing love for Celtic Frost and other 80's metal firmly on the darker side of the genre) and he brings out some of that here. To describe this as a thrash record would be inaccurate- it's not. There are sweeping melodic choruses- opener “Radical Change” is very speedy and very anthemic by turns. The sound is meaty and state of the art.

“Flying Monkeys” slows things down to a pleasantly chugging riff and groove. Again the chorus keeps things catchy and tones down the harshness. Essentially, the best way to sum things up are by stating that if Alter Bridge dropped most of their balladic tendencies and went all out as a rock/melodic metal hybrid, they would sound like this.

Tremonti has a fine singing voice and delivers a charismatic performance with a clear melodic bent to the writing. At no point does he growl or scream or outright go into extreme metal territory. Even the heaviest and fastest riffs are hummable and have a lot of light to go with the shade. The likes of the title track and “Arm Yourself” are very heavy in places and with speed and precision to boot. In my humble view, this is surely a metal record rather than rock- it tips over that line due to the speed and structures employed. It is not metal like Celtic Frost, certainly, but it is as metallic as bands like Black Label Society for instance. The solos are of course blinding; lightning speed and inventive runs abound. There is material which veers away from the heavier side- there is no aggression present in “Dark Trip” for instance, but it is still fine songwriting.

There are some truly huge riffs on here “Another Heart” opens with one and then backs off while “Fall Again” is perhaps the closest to an Alter Bridge ballad. “Tie The Noose”, meanwhile, is a great track full of edgy riffs and a fantastic chorus. The album keeps up the quality with the final two tracks, “Sympathy” (fine vocal performance here) and “Providence”. Whitlock and Friedman provide very able backing on drums and rhythm guitar/backing vocals respectively. Indeed, the drums of Garrett Whitlock are superbly played; snappy and very tight, just like on the preceding All I was record.

Yep, Cauterize is a great record. It is metal, it is hard rock but it is not extreme or underground in any way. Why review it here, then? Well, firstly it is a fine guitar driven album with great vocals and great introspective lyrics. Plus, the musicianship is top notch throughout, of course. That said, it is reviewed here because it exists on the edge of our weird universe of sub-sub-genres.

Indeed, if some kid who has never even heard of Electric Wizard but likes guitar driven music and thinks about picking up ‘Cauterize’ maybe he or she will search for a review... maybe he or she will read this one. Maybe they check out other reviews and check out those bands. Maybe they become an avid fan. Maybe they start a band and become the new Mark Tremonti or the new Electric Wizard. Most of us into metal sub-genres didn't start here. We moved towards it. I started with Metallica (The Black Album, in 1991) then went through Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Motorhead and Black Sabbath before seeking out the extreme and underground stuff. Long may that continue and long may we embrace all that we recognise as the being of the same breed. ‘Cauterize’ is certainly that, so if you want some well produced melodic metal look no further. And tell all your friends about it.

Words by: Richard Maw

‘Cauterize’ is available everywhere now

For more information:

Like: https://www.facebook.com/MarkTremonti

Follow: https://twitter.com/marktremonti