Re: Tremonti pt #4 - A Dying Machine
Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2018 6:28 am
Here's my track-by-track review, I've given this album a good few listens and my impressions have definitely changed since the first listen:
Bringer of War - I really enjoy how this song starts. The intro drumming with the riffs is typical thrash metal. The riffs keep on getting more intense prior to chorus and it's really good stuff. But then a poppy boomy chorus hits and the song loses its momentum. But then the riffs continue and it picks up again. I enjoy Mark's vocals, sounds a mix of Dave Mustaine and Ozzy Osbourne, something we haven't heard from him before. I don't normally pay attention to guitar solos, but the solo feels like something I've not heard from Mark before. It reminds me of some of Chris Broderick's work on Megadeth's Endgame. I dislike the 'yeah's at the end of the song, it reminds me of some of James Hetfield's cheesier work. I'd give this a 7.5/10. It could easily be higher with a different chorus and without the outro 'yeah's, I feel that both of these features really weaken the intensity of one of Mark's heaviest songs.
From the Sky - the title of this song reminds me of that super heavy Gojira song of the same name with a face-crushing riff. Again, the intro seems to be straight out of some classic thrash metal stuff, which is always good for me. I really dislike the chorus, but the rest of the song is decent. I'm not sure why this album has so much 'woahs' and 'yeahs'. I thought this was a concept album, doesn't Mark have a story to tell? Surely there's some lyrics he could have put in place of all this? - 7/10
A Dying Machine - Again, I really enjoy this song. I like how it has room to breathe, Mark isn't rushing the song, and I love the range of dynamics on show with the bridge. I like the riffs and Mark's singing on top. 9/10
Trust - I like Garrett's groove on this, but there's not much that I can talk about on this. I wouldn't be disappointed if I never hear it again. It's not bad, but just not particularly stand-out material. The chorus is one of Mark's typical boomy choruses, but I feel like it lacks an overall hook for it to be memorable. I'm not keen on the ad libbed vocals again, the high notes on the outro just sound a bit too boy-bandy for my liking. I don't feel like this album is an album that I will listen to in its entirety for much longer, so this will probably become a skippable song. I must say that the guitar intro sounds an awful lot like Alice in Chain's A Little Bitter, but I'm not saying that Mark ripped it off, I doubt he's ever heard the song. As another side note, I can't help but think about Megadeth's Truth when I listen to this song. I'll definitely have to listen to it once this review is completed! 6/10
Thrown to the Lions - Woohoo back to the heavy shit. I get a Megadeth vibe from this one (as you might have guessed, I fucking love Megadeth). The melodic chorus on this one is a bit too much and I feel that the intensity of the lost as soon as the chorus comes along (similar to Bringer of War). The riffing in the bridge is great, I just wish it wasn't thrown away so soon for a fairly average guitar solo. I imagine this song will go down very well live. 7/10.
Make it Hurt - Here we go, I really enjoy this song. The riff is heavy as hell and has a bit of swagger and swing to it that makes you just want to bop your head along and this continues throughout the verse and pre-chorus. It's one of the few heavy songs on this album where the intensity isn't lost in the chorus (although the transition to the chorus is a bit jarring), and for that reason I think it's one of my favourite songs in the Tremonti catalogue. 9/10
Traipse - I just don't find this song very interesting at all. The entire song is just a complete non-event. There's also the Waters Rising similarities that have been raised. I swear that on almost every Tremonti album (excluding Fortress) there's songs that just seem to pad out the albums, for example, Twilight, Losing Patience, Rising Storm, Never Wrong (the latter two being exceptionally forgettable). I feel this song is where the album really starts to deteriorate. 3/10.
The First The Last - This song is really refreshing, I can completely see why people would dislike it, but I think it's a much needed change of pace and tone. The context of the overall overall story and concept of this album prevents the lyrics from being too cheesey. It definitely be a Whitesnake or Bon Jovi ballad (I do have a soft spot for both bands), but the story and concept gives it a much needed layer of depth. Garrett's tom groove in the second verse is also a nice little touch of flair. I hadn't actually noticed the ad libbed vocals before writing this review, they work in context to this song. 8/10.
A Lot Like Sin - For fuck sake Mark. Please see comments for Traipse. I'm going to give this song one less point simply because it's another absolute non-event filler of a song. By this point, my general enthusiasm for the album is wearing off. I wonder whether Mark gets enough external feedback when writing and recording songs like this. He's been working with Elvis for so long, who is probably very used to songs like this, that no one in the studio says 'wait a minute, I don't think this is up to standard' 2/10.
The Day When Legions Burned - Thank god for this song. There's some proper thrash riffing going on here and the intensity doesn't let off throughout the verse or even the chorus (as mentioned above, a real rarity for Mark). I've actually had this song repeat a couple of times. These kind of relentlessly heavy songs are exactly what I wanted from Tremonti right from the outset of this project. I also like how Garrett changes the pulse on the third chorus, keeps things interesting 9/10.
As the Silence Becomes Me - the latter half of this album is a real mixed bag and a bit of a chore to sit through. I don't dislike this song, but much like Trust, it's just not particularly memorable. 6/10.
Take Me With You - I actually really liked this song when it was released, it's a definite change of tone for Mark. I can forgive the typical Mark bridge and solo, simply because it's a nice song. I feel like it suffers due to its placement on the album though, by the time this song comes along my overall enthusiasm for the album has worn off and I kind of want it to over, but that's not a criticism of this individual song, more of the album as a whole. 8/10
Desolution - I feel like I definitely need to listen to this song more. I had initially considered it to be quite forgettable, but I can see that you guys really like it. I think the ad libbed vocals are a really poor way and anti-climatic to end this album. The sheer quantity of ad libbed vocals almost makes me think that Mark had ran out of words to tell this story. Can you imagine if the outros songs like Fortress, Cry of Achilles or the Last Hero had these kind of ad libbed vocals as opposed to what Myles sings? 5/10
Found - I'm not sure what this song contributes to the album? It's a bit of a non-event. 5/10
Concluding thoughts - I'm pretty sure I read an interview before The Last Hero era where Mark said he wanted to write a more focused, shorter album of maybe 11-12 songs. I really wish he'd do that. I'm an album guy, I like to listen to albums in their entirety, and I judge albums as a whole piece of work. This album has some great thrash metal stuff which I absolutely love, but an awful lot of forgettable too which really does drag the entire album down.
Overall score - 6.5 (that's actually a lot lower than I thought it would be).
Bringer of War - I really enjoy how this song starts. The intro drumming with the riffs is typical thrash metal. The riffs keep on getting more intense prior to chorus and it's really good stuff. But then a poppy boomy chorus hits and the song loses its momentum. But then the riffs continue and it picks up again. I enjoy Mark's vocals, sounds a mix of Dave Mustaine and Ozzy Osbourne, something we haven't heard from him before. I don't normally pay attention to guitar solos, but the solo feels like something I've not heard from Mark before. It reminds me of some of Chris Broderick's work on Megadeth's Endgame. I dislike the 'yeah's at the end of the song, it reminds me of some of James Hetfield's cheesier work. I'd give this a 7.5/10. It could easily be higher with a different chorus and without the outro 'yeah's, I feel that both of these features really weaken the intensity of one of Mark's heaviest songs.
From the Sky - the title of this song reminds me of that super heavy Gojira song of the same name with a face-crushing riff. Again, the intro seems to be straight out of some classic thrash metal stuff, which is always good for me. I really dislike the chorus, but the rest of the song is decent. I'm not sure why this album has so much 'woahs' and 'yeahs'. I thought this was a concept album, doesn't Mark have a story to tell? Surely there's some lyrics he could have put in place of all this? - 7/10
A Dying Machine - Again, I really enjoy this song. I like how it has room to breathe, Mark isn't rushing the song, and I love the range of dynamics on show with the bridge. I like the riffs and Mark's singing on top. 9/10
Trust - I like Garrett's groove on this, but there's not much that I can talk about on this. I wouldn't be disappointed if I never hear it again. It's not bad, but just not particularly stand-out material. The chorus is one of Mark's typical boomy choruses, but I feel like it lacks an overall hook for it to be memorable. I'm not keen on the ad libbed vocals again, the high notes on the outro just sound a bit too boy-bandy for my liking. I don't feel like this album is an album that I will listen to in its entirety for much longer, so this will probably become a skippable song. I must say that the guitar intro sounds an awful lot like Alice in Chain's A Little Bitter, but I'm not saying that Mark ripped it off, I doubt he's ever heard the song. As another side note, I can't help but think about Megadeth's Truth when I listen to this song. I'll definitely have to listen to it once this review is completed! 6/10
Thrown to the Lions - Woohoo back to the heavy shit. I get a Megadeth vibe from this one (as you might have guessed, I fucking love Megadeth). The melodic chorus on this one is a bit too much and I feel that the intensity of the lost as soon as the chorus comes along (similar to Bringer of War). The riffing in the bridge is great, I just wish it wasn't thrown away so soon for a fairly average guitar solo. I imagine this song will go down very well live. 7/10.
Make it Hurt - Here we go, I really enjoy this song. The riff is heavy as hell and has a bit of swagger and swing to it that makes you just want to bop your head along and this continues throughout the verse and pre-chorus. It's one of the few heavy songs on this album where the intensity isn't lost in the chorus (although the transition to the chorus is a bit jarring), and for that reason I think it's one of my favourite songs in the Tremonti catalogue. 9/10
Traipse - I just don't find this song very interesting at all. The entire song is just a complete non-event. There's also the Waters Rising similarities that have been raised. I swear that on almost every Tremonti album (excluding Fortress) there's songs that just seem to pad out the albums, for example, Twilight, Losing Patience, Rising Storm, Never Wrong (the latter two being exceptionally forgettable). I feel this song is where the album really starts to deteriorate. 3/10.
The First The Last - This song is really refreshing, I can completely see why people would dislike it, but I think it's a much needed change of pace and tone. The context of the overall overall story and concept of this album prevents the lyrics from being too cheesey. It definitely be a Whitesnake or Bon Jovi ballad (I do have a soft spot for both bands), but the story and concept gives it a much needed layer of depth. Garrett's tom groove in the second verse is also a nice little touch of flair. I hadn't actually noticed the ad libbed vocals before writing this review, they work in context to this song. 8/10.
A Lot Like Sin - For fuck sake Mark. Please see comments for Traipse. I'm going to give this song one less point simply because it's another absolute non-event filler of a song. By this point, my general enthusiasm for the album is wearing off. I wonder whether Mark gets enough external feedback when writing and recording songs like this. He's been working with Elvis for so long, who is probably very used to songs like this, that no one in the studio says 'wait a minute, I don't think this is up to standard' 2/10.
The Day When Legions Burned - Thank god for this song. There's some proper thrash riffing going on here and the intensity doesn't let off throughout the verse or even the chorus (as mentioned above, a real rarity for Mark). I've actually had this song repeat a couple of times. These kind of relentlessly heavy songs are exactly what I wanted from Tremonti right from the outset of this project. I also like how Garrett changes the pulse on the third chorus, keeps things interesting 9/10.
As the Silence Becomes Me - the latter half of this album is a real mixed bag and a bit of a chore to sit through. I don't dislike this song, but much like Trust, it's just not particularly memorable. 6/10.
Take Me With You - I actually really liked this song when it was released, it's a definite change of tone for Mark. I can forgive the typical Mark bridge and solo, simply because it's a nice song. I feel like it suffers due to its placement on the album though, by the time this song comes along my overall enthusiasm for the album has worn off and I kind of want it to over, but that's not a criticism of this individual song, more of the album as a whole. 8/10
Desolution - I feel like I definitely need to listen to this song more. I had initially considered it to be quite forgettable, but I can see that you guys really like it. I think the ad libbed vocals are a really poor way and anti-climatic to end this album. The sheer quantity of ad libbed vocals almost makes me think that Mark had ran out of words to tell this story. Can you imagine if the outros songs like Fortress, Cry of Achilles or the Last Hero had these kind of ad libbed vocals as opposed to what Myles sings? 5/10
Found - I'm not sure what this song contributes to the album? It's a bit of a non-event. 5/10
Concluding thoughts - I'm pretty sure I read an interview before The Last Hero era where Mark said he wanted to write a more focused, shorter album of maybe 11-12 songs. I really wish he'd do that. I'm an album guy, I like to listen to albums in their entirety, and I judge albums as a whole piece of work. This album has some great thrash metal stuff which I absolutely love, but an awful lot of forgettable too which really does drag the entire album down.
Overall score - 6.5 (that's actually a lot lower than I thought it would be).