Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton has announced a new solo album, Without the Pain, arriving April 11th.
Morton also offered up the new single “Brother,” a collaboration with outlaw country singer Cody Jinks and songwriter/country artist Travis Denning.
The first half of the track is mostly acoustic, Morton’s strums providing a perfect backdrop for Jinks’ distinctive twang. The song eventually goes electric as it builds to a crescendo, Morton picking up his trusty axe to lay down some ripping leads.
“On a long bus ride, somewhere in the middle of a Lamb of God tour, I scribbled some lyrics down in my notebook,” said Morton. “Sometime after, having paired them with a simple chord progression, I presented my idea to Cody Jinks and Travis Denning during a writing session in Nashville. Three hours later, we walked out with ‘Brother.’”
He continued: “‘Brother’ is a deeply personal song that speaks directly to the theme of family separation and estrangement. I have learned through observation and my own lived experience that it is a universal and all too common phenomenon. We all poured a lot of ourselves into this song and I’m grateful to Cody for singing on it with me. I hope you’ll enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed making it.”
Morton’s upcoming solo album features numerous guest vocalists and collabs and sees the guitarist stepping away from the extreme metal of Lamb of God as he embraces a Southern rock sound — a prime example being the previously released cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “The Needle and the Spoon” with Clutch’s Neil Fallon. That track is included on Without the Pain alongside nine originals co-penned by Morton and his collaborators, including producer Josh Wilbur.
Stream the video for “Brother” and see the full tracklist and list of collaborators below.
Without the Pain Artwork:
Without the Pain Tracklist (songwriters in parentheses):
01. “Hell & Back” feat. Jaren Johnston of The Cadillac Three (Mark Morton, Jaren Johnston, Josh Wilbur)
02. “Brother” feat. Cody Jinks (Mark Morton, Cody Jinks, Travis Denning)
03. “Without the Pain” feat. Matt James of Blacktop Mojo (Mark Morton, Jaren Johnston, Josh Wilbur)
04. “Kite String” feat. Travis Denning (Mark Morton, Travis Denning)
05. “Come December” feat. Charlie Starr of Blackberry Smoke & Jason Isbell (Mark Morton, Charlie Gray, Matt Connor)
06. “Dust” feat. Cody Jinks & Grace Bowers (Mark Morton, Jaren Johnston, Cody Jinks)
07. “Forever in the Light” feat. Tyler Bryant & The Shakedown (Mark Morton, Tyler Bryant, Caleb Crosby)
08. “Nocturnal Sun” feat. Troy Sanders & Jared James Nichols (Mark Morton, Josh Wilbur)
09. “The Needle and the Spoon” feat. Neil Fallon of Clutch (Allen Collins, Ronald W Vanzant)
10. “Home” feat. Travis Denning (Mark Morton, Travis Denning, Josh Wilbur)