TREMONTI

A Dying Machine NAPALM Alter Bridge axeman diverts from a tried and true formula

On his three prior and lauded solo albums, succinctness has been Mark Tremonti’s primary ally. Each entry in his triumvirate clocks in at 45 minutes, delivers a massive punch of riffing, soul and melody, and then stops as suddenly and violently as it began. With disc number four, though, Mark has adopted a far more grandiose approach: not only does A Dying Machine boast over an hour of music, but it’s also a narrativedriven, conceptual piece. And while that approach succeeds in evolving Tremonti’s diversity and lyricism, it does, however, also remove some of the impactful energy that made his past material excel. Mightily metallic high-points like Bringer Of War, Make It Hurt and The Day When Legions Burned make A Dying Machine more than worth the cost of admission, but the entire affair does feel slightly bloated after repeat listens. FOR FANS OF: PRONG, ALTER BRIDGE, SEETHER