Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge isn't shy about his Metallica fandom. In fact, he credits the thrash metal giants with igniting his musical passion, especially their 1986 masterpiece Master of Puppets. But beyond the shredding solos and headbanging anthems, it's Metallica's masterful use of dynamics that truly captures Tremonti's heart.
"Honestly, I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for Metallica and Master Of Puppets!" he tells Guitar World. "What I loved most was the dynamics. That's something I really credit Metallica for. A lot of heavy bands from that period didn't use dynamics like they did. Metallica would write these beautiful intros on songs like 'Battery', 'Damage, Inc.', and 'The Call Of Ktulu', the latter being the song with which I developed my own fingerstyle technique. Then there was all that beautiful stuff in 'To Live Is To Die.'"
For Tremonti, it's this ebb and flow, the quiet whispers before the sonic thunder, that sets Metallica apart. He points to "Orion" as his prime example, praising the contrast between the gentle verses and the gut-punching choruses: "My favorite song of all time could very well be 'Orion'. That variation is a really big thing for me, going from cleaner verses to those kick-you-in-the-nuts choruses, which is what you hear on 'Welcome Home'. Funnily enough, there's a video online of me covering that song on a Hello Kitty guitar!"
But Metallica's magic isn't just about one sound. It's the interplay between two distinct guitar voices: James Hetfield's chugging rhythms and Kirk Hammett's electrifying leads.
"They're two very different players, but you have to remember Kirk has to keep up with James when they play those fast riffs live!" Tremonti adds. "Kirk is a great alternate picker. He's also a big reason why I love wah pedals so much, he often does those big one-string wah runs that I love."
Tremonti draws a parallel to his own partnership with Alter Bridge bandmate Myles Kennedy: "Me and Myles are different – he's more jazzy and bluesy, and I'm more of a metal guy. We complement each other's sounds, using different amps to fill different frequency ranges to build a bigger picture. That’s something Metallica have always done."
