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It might all be down to their everyman persona, but the greatest trick Alter Bridge have ever pulled off is how easy they make all this look and sound, even though their timeless take on classic rock is often as complex, technically, as it gets. It takes a lot of skill and talent to make it seem so effortless. And it remains true on this new record – the blood, sweat and tears that undoubtedly went into it have vanished under the sheen of a collection of songs that sound like they’ve always been there.
Wisely, they haven’t messed with the Alter Bridge formula on their eighth album. Going down the self-titled route is, in most cases, a sign of confidence, that a band is unwaveringly sure that this is exactly representative of who they are right at this moment in their career; there’s no temptation to head down wild diversions or throw in weird experimentation just for the sake of it. Alter Bridge is Alter Bridge at their most Alter Bridge.
They pile in all guns blazing. Myles Kennedy’s voice, of course, soars, effortlessly tackling those theatrical high notes and perfectly complemented by Mark Tremonti’s less histrionic register. Musically, it’s all growing up proudly from their metal roots. Towering riffs seem to come to them as easily as dreaming does to the rest of us. Opener Silent Divide, chugging and squealing, is an adrenaline-fuelled juggernaut that throws everything at you, with a howling Tremonti guitar wig-out to see it on its way – it’s not for the faint-hearted.
Tremonti is a wizard at his craft. But the sturdy, steadfast rhythm section of bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips is what anchors it all, with a base of pure rock that the movement of tectonic plates couldn’t shift.
Trust In Me is a live favourite in the making, its sky-high chorus sung by Tremonti, the verse by Kennedy, raging one minute, floating and dreamlike the next. Disregarded is a grunge-spattered descent into darkness, with a subtle background note of Led Zeppelin in there to sweeten the deal. And in among all the drama, a moment of reflection and quiet with the acoustic-based Hang By A Thread, a proper, emotion-drenched, end-of-the-road tear-jerker. They save the most ambitious moment for last, with Slave To Master, a sprawling, nine-minute full-metal gallop to the finish with a constellation of furious, fiery fretwork to see us into the night.
Alter Bridge is the sound of a band supremely confident in their own skin.
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