Review: Tremonti - A Dying Machine (2019)

Artist: Tremonti

Album: A Dying Machine

Genre: Thrash/Alternative Metal, Hard Rock

Released: February 2019

Album length: 70:00/16 tracks (deluxe version)

Background

Tremonti is a band from Florida, created in 2011 by Mark Tremonti, best known as the lead guitarist of Alter Bridge. The band embraces Tremonti's speed metal influence, together with his melodic vocals. A Dying Machine is their fourth studio album. It's a concept album that was written in conjunction with a sci-fi novel of the same name, following the story of an AI built to love, which is relentless, and ultimately results in tragedy.

The track breakdown

On repeat: From the Sky, Take You With Me, Now or Never , Desolation

Skip it: Trust, Found

For the gym (150+ BPM): Take You with Me, Bringer of War, Make It Hurt, A Lot Like Sin

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Bringer of War is written from the perspective of a warmonger, as the name suggests. This is one of the heavier tracks on the album and has stellar drumming, great riffs and a really impressive solo. Tremonti's vocals on this are fantastic too. Great opener for the album.

From the Sky crashes in with some more incredible drumming. There's great riffs on this track. Tremonti's vocals are more aggressive, with melodic vocalisations taking the place of a proper chorus, which I surprisingly like. The solo on this track is awesome as well. Fantastic all-rounder.

A Dying Machine is another track that begins aggressively. This is the song which makes the AI concept very clear, and the lyrics are really interesting and it's written so well. Tremonti switches up the vocals in this song nicely; there are some aggressive parts and other parts are melodic. I love the aggressive tone of the verse before the final chorus. The song is over six minutes long though, so it does drag a bit in parts.

Trust is a song where the intro doesn't grab me, and the chorus is similar. The verses are powerful. My favourite part of the song is where it dips for Tremonti's more melodic vocals, but it's missing a solo and could definitely do with one to pick it up a bit. It's one I tend to skip.

Throw Them to the Lions is so fast paced! This is the typical speed metal I expect from Tremonti, and both the drumming and guitar are great on this track. I don't mind listening to it with the album, but it's not one I choose to listen to as it feels a bit shallow compared to the others.

Make It Hurt is one of my favourites on this album. There's catchy riffs, great drumming and I like the lyrics and aggressive vocals on this track too. There's a gorgeous solo to finish the song up nicely.

Traipse makes the most of the acoustic guitar. The drumming brings the song up for the chorus, with a pretty little riff before the next verse. It picks up a lot more towards the end of the song, and there's a great solo. It's a song that's at risk of being boring in the first half, but I like it.

The First the Last is a beautiful ballad. The lyrics are gorgeous, the vocals are stunning and it's a nicely put together song. One of my favourites.

A Lot Like Sin is a gritty track with dark lyrics. I feel like this song would have fit well on the Cauterize album. Great drumming and guitar throughout.

The Day When Legions Burned is another track that wouldn't have been out of place on his past albums. Awesome drumming on this track as expected, cool riffs and a nice solo for the outro.

As the Silence Becomes Me is a stunning track. We welcome back the gorgeous acoustic from The First the Last. It gets heavier and the passion in Tremonti's voice is amazing. It's over five minutes long without a proper solo though, so I wish there was more focus on that.

Take You with Me is almost a love song. It's a great track, but definitely deviated away from the usual metal style to deliver more of a hard rock song made for the radio. It's not Tremonti's typical style, but I do have a soft spot for this song. Especially with that outro.

Desolation is a lovely close to the album. It starts off acoustic and picks up into a heavier sound. There's a nice solo on this song, and the lyrics are thought-provoking, and a teeny bit depressing. It's one of my favourites.

Found is an instrumental. I don't feel like it adds anything to the album and whilst I don't hate it, it's not one I listen to. If it had a roaring guitar solo and more immense drumming then I'd be all over it. But it's none of that.

Now or Never is a bonus track, but one of my favourites on the album nonetheless. It's another that starts off acoustic before building. The chorus is catchy, and I enjoy the song on the whole.

Desolation (Acoustic) is another bonus track. I prefer the normal version to this acoustic track as it doesn't have as much passion to it, and obviously misses out on the stunning electric guitar solo!

In summary

Overall, A Dying Machine is a solid album from Tremonti. There's not as much speed and thrash metal at play here though, and I did miss that on some of the tracks. However, the slower songs on this album like The First The Last, As The Silence Becomes Me and Desolation are really good.

The title track being a bit boring, as well as the instrumental track that felt unnecessary does lower my rating for this album. I'll listen to it all the way through and absolutely not hate it, but I wish some of the songs grabbed me more. There's great drumming and guitar work throughout, but I prefer Tremonti's older albums for that in particular.

Album rating: 8/10