"Marching in time" Is the fifth album by established metallers Tremonti. Fronted by former Creed and current axe wielder for Alter Bridge, Mark Tremonti; this album sees the band make the most of their time off from touring due to the pandemic by channelling their focus into this new album. I have been into Tremonti for several years now and have been lucky enough to see them live a few times. I thought their last album "A dying machine" was the best they have ever done. And that's saying something considering the standard on some of their other albums like "All I was" and "Dust".
But how would "Marching in time" stack up against this. Tremonti released 4 tracks on the run up to this release, all of which I thought were great. I'm always interested to see where the singles line up on the album and in this case, they were tracks 1-3 and then the album closer. I am a bit obsessed with how bands open and close albums and this album is no different. I find it fascinating that he not only opened with a single he released but also released a single which is the last track on the album. Opening track "A World Away" for me is the "Take me with you" of the album which appeared on "A dying machine". Not only has this got sublime guitar work all the way through but it has the best chorus on the album as it is so catchy and memorable.
In a live setting it is quite common for bands to open with one of their stronger more well-known tracks to really bring the crowd in. And I think that's what Mark is trying to do here with the album. He wants the listener to really be brought into the album immediatley and pay attention. And it works. This is a different approach to albums Mark has done in the past, particularly with Alter Bridge. Tracks like "Slip the void" off "ABIII" and "One Life" off "Walk the Sky" are by design are natural intros to their respective albums and would only really fit as the first track on the album. But "A world away" could appear anywhere apart from the last track. It is just that good it needs to be on the album as for me it is one of the best tracks.
The last track "Marching in time" is my other favourite track on the album as well and is an interesting choice for that position on the album. Looking back at even Tremonti's own albums "Unable to See" off "Dust" and "Found" off "A dying machine" were natural closers, gently closing off their respective albums. Whereas here, "Marching in time" sends the listener into one of the most epic track Tremonti has ever made. And I know he made "Blackbird" by his other band Alter Bridge. But this is his attempt at doing an epic 7-minute track Tremonti style. Some of the shredding and guitar solos on this are incredible. I think with these tracks sometimes it is better to put them at the end of the album as the next track will always sound weaker in comparison.
But this is a 12-track album so what about all the other 10 tracks in between? Well, these tracks are really solid and to a high standard. I would say in comparison to other Tremonti albums a lot of tracks do have a heavier feel about them, particularly the intros to the songs which really do send out a statement. I also think that technically, the guitar playing on this album feels more complex and advanced than before and I don't think that's just down to Mark but also the very talented Eric Freidman too. I would say there aren't as many anthemic songs on here as "A dying machine". As in real sing along chorus songs. But that in turn gives the album a fresh dynamic and separates it from other Tremonti albums. My other favourite songs on the album are "Thrown Further", "Bleak" and a takeout the lighters song waiting to happen "Not Afraid to Lose".
Overall, this is a fantastic album and one of the things I love about Tremonti is that he keeps advancing and challenging himself. All the songs on this album work well together and can be set apart from previous albums. Mark is such an established act on the circuit now through Creed, Alter Bridge and Tremonti and such a hard-working artist. It's hard to see when this steam rolling music machine is going to stop. Hopefully with this output it is no time soon.
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