Review: Tremonti - Dust (2016)

Artist: Tremonti

Album: Dust

Genre: Speed/Alternative Metal

Released: April 2016

Album length: 43:23/10 tracks

Background:

Tremonti is a band from Florida, created in 2011 by Mark Tremonti, who is best known as the lead guitarist of Alter Bridge. The band embraces a strong speed metal influence, together with melodic vocals. Dust is the band's third album.

The track breakdown

On repeat: Dust, Tore My Heart Out, Unable to See

Skip it: Catching Fire, Never Wrong

For the gym (150+ BPM): Once Dead, Rising Storm

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My Last Mistake starts off with a pounding drumbeat which continues all the way through. The guitar throughout is the perfect fit for the song. The bridge and chorus are catchy. I enjoy Tremonti's vocals on this song, the outro generates a little more of a growly tone from him. The solo is cool, but definitely not the best on the album. Solid track, but probably not the one I'd have started the album with.

The Cage has an awesome intro. This track truly embraces the speed metal approach, which is alternated with a slow in the drumming and a riff throughout the verses, which feels a bit harsh. The most interesting part is where everything drops down low before the solo, as well as the delightful solo itself. It's a decent track but not a favourite of mine.

Once Dead has neat speed metal aspects, with riffs in the verses. The chorus is catchy and Tremonti's vocals are excellent on that part in particular. I find the rest of the vocals on the song to be a bit dull and not very standout. The build up to the solo where you can hear the bass peek through is cool. The solo itself is alright, but not his best work. I like the speed metal bits in the chorus. The outro is the best part of the song in terms of the guitar work, absolutely awesome.

Dust is pure magic. His soulful vocals, the acoustic which slowly builds up to the heavy music that has beautiful guitar and heartfelt vocalisations from Tremonti. The chorus is perfect, and the drop afterwards to a pretty little riff beginning the second verse is stunning. Tremonti's vocalisations throughout are brimming with emotion. The guitar itself is full of passion too; the solo is something you can feel in your heart. It's such a well put together song. An absolute favourite of mine from Tremonti, and it's his favourite from the album too, understandably!

Betray Me is a really solid song. It's nice and heavy, the chorus is catchy and Tremonti's vocals are fantastic throughout, especially as he picks it up in the second verse. The guitar is stunning too, especially before the chorus, but I feel like that doesn't need to be said when it comes to Tremonti. The outro is as heavy as the start, and finishes the song nicely. This one gets stuck in my head thanks to the ridiculously catchy chorus.

Tore My Heart Out is gorgeous. It's a pretty classic Tremonti sound with a ballad-feel to it. The guitar after the chorus is a really nice addition to the song. I like the way it gets heavier throughout the verse, until it reaches a peak, before the chorus delivers Tremonti's melodic vocals. The second chorus goes perfectly into the solo for the song, which sounds great. I wish there was a little more to the solo though.

"The whole damn thing has turned to dust; the ashes you left to bury us"𝅘𝅥𝅮

Catching Fire sounds like an Alter Bridge song to start with, which isn't necessarily a complaint, but I enjoy Tremonti's unique sound. The second verse is interesting as it features heavy, distorted bass in the background, but generally it's a bit of a filler track for me. It's repetitive as well, which I don't like when it comes to this song; I think it's at least a minute too long, especially as there's no fancy Tremonti solo in it. It's one I skip.

Never Wrong is pretty slow paced by non-ballad Tremonti standards. I like the riff throughout and the fact the bass is more audible. Generally, for me it's a boring track. The way it builds up to the solo is awesome, and the solo itself almost saves the track for me, but it's not going on a playlist any time soon.

Rising Storm starts really heavy, giving way to Tremonti's melodic vocals. His voice is brilliant on this track, and the chorus is catchy. The solo is cool too. It's another solid track.

Unable to See is such a pretty song. Probably not an adjective you see alongside a speed metal album, but there it is! The guitar is gorgeous on this song, and Tremonti's vocals are beautiful. The heavy metal elements kick in as you'd expect, and they add a lot to the song. There's contrast between the guitar at the start and the riffs that start to come in. The solo for the outro is fantastic, and drops back into a gentle acoustic sound, mirroring the intro. It's a really lovely way to finish the album, and a strong track to finish on.

In summary

This is an album where I only know the names of three or four songs, which generally isn't a great sign: it either means the album blends into one for me, or the songs simply aren't memorable enough to remember the names. In this case, I think it's the latter. After a dedicated listen through this album for this review, I still can't remember the names of some of the songs.

My favourites on this album are the more ballad-esque tracks. I prefer a song with some emotion behind it over a song like Catching Fire, which feels like more of a filler song to me. Dust is the epitome of a song packed with emotion and technique, and it's hands down the best track on this album. I wish they'd started the album with Dust - the beginning and the end of the album would have had similar acoustic elements, which would have been extra special.

Generally speaking, the vocals on this album are excellent, and the guitar work is great, but I don't feel like Dust showcases Tremonti's musical abilities as well as Cauterize does, which is a much heavier album (I totally recommend the legendary title track on that, too!) even with some ballads thrown in.

The takeaway from this? The title track is absolutely, categorically worth a listen. Dedicate 5 minutes and 21 seconds to listen to that beauty, you won't regret it.

Album rating: 7/10