Tremonti, the heavy metal band founded by Mark Tremonti – known for his work as guitarist in Creed and Alter Bridge – returns with a new album, “The End Will Show Us How”, an assault of heavy riffs, fluid guitar arrangements and solos, and emotive choruses.
After all these years, since Creed became popular at the end of the 90s, Mark Tremonti remains a respected and influential guitarist. Creed is still acclaimed, although only intermittently active, and Alter Bridge – the band that rose from its ashes – is still well-received by the audience.
Regarding the band Tremonti, unlike his role in his other two bands, here Mark is not only the guitarist but also the lead vocalist.
When listening to “The End Will Show Us How,” you can quickly notice some standout elements, such as the wide array of metal riffs and guitar arrangements, with enough variety to make for an entertaining experience. While these parts sometimes sound a bit generic, they are usually very well done.
Mark Tremonti, for his part, isn’t the fastest guitarist, but he plays very well. Indeed, many of his recorded guitar parts on the album, including his solos, seem to have a certain rawness, making them appear like first takes; however, they are executed very well and convey a sense of self-confidence. Mark doesn’t necessarily seem to strive for perfection in playing, but rather as if his interest is to wrap up and move on to the next musical production. With such an extensive discography across three different bands, it wouldn’t surprise me if that was his personal philosophy.
There are some songs in “The End Will Show Us How” that stand out for being particularly good, like “The Mother, The Earth and I” and the title track. Overall, I don’t think there’s a single bad song throughout the entire collection.
However, after listening to this release multiple times and getting more familiar with the materia, I start, so to speak, to notice the cracks in the wall. In this case, these cracks equate to all the songs seemingly following generally the same formula or composition methodology. This might go unnoticed if not enough attention is paid, as the abundance of riffs and arrangements distracts from this fact.
This approach to composition by Mark Tremonti is understandable. Over a successful career spanning several decades, he has managed to develop his own style, but most importantly, for better or worse, he has learned what he needs to do to apply it and make a song work commercially. It’s an art he masters to perfection, but one that might give the impression that all the songs sound similar, and that we’ve heard Mark Tremonti do this before.
On the other hand, there’s something important to consider when listening to “The End Will Show Us How”: as I mentioned, while in his other bands Mark only serves as a guitarist, here he takes on the role of lead vocalist, with inconsistent results.
If there’s something that could bring this album down, it’s Mark Tremonti’s voice. Although I understand the personal reasons that might have led him to decide to take on the role of lead vocalist in his third band, I think it’s obvious to any listener that Mark isn’t the best singer on the planet. Personally, I find the tone of his voice not very pleasant, and I think he could also work on his pitch when singing.
On the positive side, we can assume that being the vocalist himself allows him to interpret the songs in the most faithful way possible to his original intention as the primary composer. In this regard, his voice works quite well, and after listening to the album several times, I must admit that, although he never fully grew on me, I started appreciating him a bit more as a vocalist.
Ultimately, I believe that fans of Mark Tremonti, as well as his other bands, will feel at home listening to “The End Will Show Us How.” Hard rock and metal fans will undoubtedly appreciate the riffs, guitar parts, and the musical flow built through them in the songs, although they might find the album’s material somewhat tiring and repetitive at some point, especially if they are familiar with the music the guitarist has previously released.
