The Fortress Reviews Thread - press reviews & early listens

[Ubik]

Wow. Mindcrime is prob my all time favorite album. I miss DeGarmo such much, and Tate just lost his mind. Comparing Fortress to Mindcrime or Maiden says a lot.

That's more than one reference to it now as well. 16 hours to go...

[austinjhnsn]

So what time EST is this thing supposed to stream?

[Ubik]

10am.

Unfair that americans get it earlier in their day.

[gbruin]

^^

[Ubik]

http://www.stormbringer.at/reviews.php?id=9754

Who in the name of ALTER BRIDGE still first, the prejudice is "Creed with a new singer" in the sense (three of the four band members were until 2004 part of the multi-platinum band), can definitely say goodbye to the fourth album by the combo of that thought. With the watered-down grunge of the late 90s, the guys have anything anymore on hat. Instead, you play highly melodic, original and modern metal with claim as the entry level epic "Cry Of Achilles" immediately impressively demonstrates. The track begins with acoustic flamenco guitar and then goes into a neoclassical riff-storm, which ends in a hammer-chorus! Such a six and a half-minute chunks right at the start of the disc may perhaps not be for everyone. Me but this track is simply weggehauen - my personal album highlight! After the opening bang it goes though in reduced complexity, but in just as high intensity continues: "Addicted To Pain" is the first single, a relatively straighter rocker that of the boys will be carved out with great conviction and instinctive self-confidence. Especially singer Myles Kennedy makes an impressive ringing ears here. Next, and absolutely worth mentioning is the second album highlight "Bleed It Dry". Especially the guitar parts of Mark Tremonti are anything but the exercise of a duty abgezockten rock stars - which is quite large, passionate Frickelkunst! As an additional Anspieltipps is finally quiet, deep black blues number "Lover," the anthemic "Peace Is Broken" and removed to MUSE harmonies reminiscent of "Calm The Fire" to call. Their Fourth Ling ex Grunger show impressively, that they are willing to carry out your thing and not have to squint with each song on radio airplay. Of course one or the other more commercial track creeps into the sequence. Let us not illusion - ALTER BRIDGE want to sell as many records as possible and achieve global success. But in the end but the impression remains that there is a force at work that do not want to please in the first place, but the tunes makes them personally is the most heart. This is confirmed in the current Mark Tremonti interview for Stormbringer. Even if one gambles modern metal here, you never adopt the current Minimalism Modern Metal combos out the whole thing without gold but always with attention to detail and baroque opulence. The heart blood pulsates here evident in every note. Even though appears somewhat predictable on "Fortress" one or the other chorus and with a new album the title "masterpiece" were not quite deserve the silver disc in the final bill has become a very bold thing, all friends of the full melodic metal broadside the times should take to heart!

4.5/5

I don't know what Frickelkunst is, but I'm calling the next person that annoys me it.

Hammer-chorus!

[Ubik]

I seem to be finding a bounty of teutonic reviews.

http://www.metalnews.de/cds/Alter+Bridg ... .8370.html

"Fortress" is a medium-sized surprise despite strong previous albums. It was clear that ALTER BRIDGE are forking out up a gear after the great, gloomy "AB III", but a work like "Fortress" you could not really expect anyway. Yes, one or two gutklassige alibi alternative rock songs with which ALTER BRIDGE and their more or less predecessor CREED are grown, there is here also, but otherwise governed bold, complex songwriting, the result exceeds the limit for metal often enough . the pompous, almost six and a half minutes long opener "Cry Of Achilles" is a nested masterpiece that lives off the terrific singing prodigy Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti of the thick riffs. Vibrant, dynamic and always surprising, somewhere between sauharten [hard] rock and punchy metal. It is a generally a joy, how OLD BRIDGE riff on the album by almost progressive material and bashing, but always maintain a certain catchiness that would do very well on the radio. Here the conflict between commercialism and unprecedented claim as a matter of course each other. So shines the single "Addicted To Pain" with thrashy metal hardness and almost traditional, but still holds enough hit potential to dominate the singles charts. "Calm The Fire" increases by one to MUSE ajar beginning [in which Myles vocally pushes forward to new heights] in a modern, dramatic piece full of finesse, which ends in a wonderful chorus. A good example of how much ALTER BRIDGE are grown as a songwriter and further proof of how much is too small, the alternative rock drawer has become the band now. The less interesting pieces of "Fortress" [because they were not really bad, but because they subtly arranged next to the monster tracks to pale act] are the ballads in the form of "Lover", "Waters Rising" [sung by Tremonti] and "All Ends Well". However, the very thick end comes in the form of the title track that ends the album. In just eight minutes ALTER BRIDGE pull out all the stops and present their perhaps most ambitious piece to date. Just what in the last three minutes it happens, you would have the Americans simply can not have expected in this form. Fourth Factory [thus gets the album title also another interesting note] ALTER BRIDGE is all fans to save and likely the already large fanbase potentiate the troops still immense. You have to know as a friend distorted guitar sounds.

6/7

The terrific singing prodigy Myles Kennedy and Mark Tremonti of the Thick Riffs. Would look good on a poster.

[fix]

http://www.stormbringer.at/reviews.php?id=9754

I don't know what Frickelkunst is, but I'm calling the next person that annoys me it.

Hahaha... Well I asked a German colleague what it meant, but she didn't know so... It's probably some kind of Austrian metal dialect...

[InfantChild]

Frickelkunst ist made up of Frickeln and Kunst. Frickeln is some kind of slang and is mostley used to describe when someone does something technical with Passion and Detail. In this context Marks fast fingerworks on solos an riffs. Kunst ist Art in German.

[gbruin]

In other words...Shredfest!

[InfantChild]

Well not necessarily shredfest it could also be a slow solo or Riff or whatever. Frickeln describes the technical or complicated aspect.

But as we all know Mark, i guess the shredfest is on xD

[AB4Lyfe]

People give me crap for not being apart of a religion and never going to church. But as soon as I go to an AB concert, that venue will be considered my "church" because I'm going to watching a group of 4 GODS.

[Felipesh]

http://www.rocksins.com/reviews/alter-b ... ess-18227/

Despite the fact that their previous album ABIII was a critical and commercial success, and they have toured arenas (and sold out the vast majority of them) over the last couple of years, in some ways Alter Bridge still feel like something of a well kept secret within the rock community. Whereas most casual music fans have at least heard of the likes of Biffy Clyro or Muse, Alter Bridge are probably not a name familiar to the majority of them. Finally, with their fourth album Fortress, this should be set to change.

Most great hard rock albums feature a cracking opening track and in Cry Of Achilles, Alter Bridge have that box firmly ticked on Fortress. With an intro that builds and builds before bursting into life and a chorus that is begging to be sung by thousands in arenas across the world, Cry Of Achilles is among Alter Bridge’s best songs to date and is a sign of quality that is maintained across the album.

Alter Bridge’s lead guitarist Mark Tremonti released a solo album (the excellent “All I Was”) last year, and Alter Bridge look to have benefitted tremendously from his experimentations away from the group. Fortress features numerous songs where the guitar tone is heavier and darker than before with lead single Addicted To Pain being prime example of this. The song contains at least two main riffs that will induce guaranteed headbanging, voluntary or otherwise.

Another welcome aspect to Fortress is that Tremonti takes on lead vocals for a song, “Waters Rising”, and it does not feel at all out of place and provides an excellent contrast to the always phenomenal Myles Kennedy. Myles manages to raise his extremely high standards yet again with songs like Bleed It Dry, Calm The Fire and Lover in particular showcasing his wonderful range. The always reliable rhythm section of Brian Marshall and Scott ‘Flip’ Phillips are metronomic with their precision as usual, but both are also afforded the opportunity to cut loose on occasion, and the album benefits from their increased contributions. The album concludes with the title track, which is is a seven and a half minute epic in the vein of Blackbird. Whilst not quite as iconic as the title track from their second album, it is a wonderful end to what will be viewed by many as a career defining album, certainly in terms of what has come thus far.

It will be a huge shock if this album is anything other than an enormous success. It deserves nothing less, and may well be the final piece of the puzzle that sees Alter Bridge headline major festivals within the next couple of years. Alter Bridge are the hard rock band the world needs and with Fortress they have their invitation to the top table of rock music. The secret should be well and truly out now.

[hackingislife]

People give me crap for not being apart of a religion and never going to church. But as soon as I go to an AB concert, that venue will be considered my "church" because I'm going to watching a group of 4 GODS.

Same boat!

[fix]

http://www.rocksins.com/reviews/alter-b ... ess-18227/

Nice!

[Inconquerable]

Not that this matters much now but here's a review from Rock Sins:

http://www.rocksins.com/reviews/alter-b ... ess-18227/

[Will]

not bad at all.

[antiwal]

What sort of half-assed review is this?!?!?!

http://www.revolvermag.com/news/review- ... tress.html

[fix]

^ haha I've seen people on Facebook ranting about it as well...

[Inconquerable]

Interesting. I think it says a lot though that that is the first "professional" (and by that I basically mean published) review that has been negative about the album. You can't please everyone and while I disagree about the monotony very much (I don't hear it personally), not everyone will be happy with what they've done.

[Will]

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/o ... ess-review

The next time Paul Gambaccini is wheeled out to announce that rock is dead, someone needs to introduce him to Alter Bridge. Already hugely successful, as their forthcoming European arena tour confirms, the American quartet have breathed new life into the notion of bombastic, radio-friendly but uncompromising hard rock anthems. Fortress, the band's fourth album, suggests that their upward sprint is set to continue. The combination of guitarist Mark Tremonti's unashamedly metallic riffing and singer Myles Kennedy's (otherwise known as Slash's right-hand man) versatile and soulful voice ensures that every one of these 12 songs bristles with conviction. As epic as prime Led Zep and as thunderous as peak-form Sabbath, Cry of Achilles and Calm the Fire are lessons in how to write melodies that strum the heartstrings while refusing to rein in the balls-out instincts that have made Alter Bridge such a hit with mainstream rock fans and the metal community. Meanwhile, ballads such as Lover exhibit an emotional efficacy that takes the breath away.