  
This band’s music means so much to me as
it has been there for me and soothed my mood throughout
the worst times I have experienced in my life,
they cater to every mood you could find yourself
in; aggressive (“Ties That Bind”,
“Metalingus” etc…), mellow (“Watch
Over You”, “In Loving Memory”,
“Broken Wings” etc…), buzzing
(“Buried Alive”, “Isolation”,
“Rise Today” etc…) with loads
more over the past 3 albums. Mark Tremonti and
Myles Kennedy together is such a heavenly musical
cocktail, the guitar work is high octane and off
the charts in terms of technicality, the vocals
are so calming and the range Kennedy can reach
is remarkable, after such a long break with Tremonti
embarking on a solo record and Kennedy touring
with Slash can they come back together without
losing any of the magic?
A single came out called “Addicted To Pain”
with such a huge hype surrounding it all over
social media and I left it a while before I personally
checked it out - I usually avoid singles as I
get too excited and hate waiting for the rest
- but I caved and gave it a listen and after criticising
Kennedy for losing his touch with the latest Slash
album, I was made to eat my words as his work
here is impeccable alongside an explosion of high
octane riffage, what a track. I also fell in love
with album opener “Cry Of Achilles”
as it’s a slow builder but then when it
kicks in it stomps through your chest with force
the same pure hard rock driven tracks such as
“Bleed It Dry”, “Farther Than
The Sun” and “Cry A River”.
“Waters Rising” is one of those songs
where the riff hooks you and reels you in, it’s
just so dirty and intricate which is really half
the reason I love Alter Bridge. You also have
the traditional lighter songs, none on the impeccable
level of “Watch Over You” or “Wonderful
Life” but “Lover” gives a very
valiant effort at it and album title track “Fortress”
nearly makes it into the top whilst retaining
an element of metal to it at the same time which
is tremendous.
All in all being a huge fan of a band can cloud
your judgement when it comes to newer material
in the respect that either you’ll hype it
up and it won’t live up or there’s
an element of unconditional love and loyalty so
everything is fantastic but I’ve put that
aside whilst I’ve span it for a few weeks
to really see what this has to offer. This is
packed full of technicality, explosive metal influence
and beautiful harmonic craftsmanship, absolutely
chuffed to bits with everything this album is
reignited the passion and obsessive nature I’ve
always had for these guys.
4.5/5
Review by James Webb
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