Twenty-five years into a music career that has seen five Grammy nominations, two RIAA certified Gold records and, most recently, the publication of Desolation: A Heavy Metal Memoir, an honest reflection on his life in music and beyond, Mark Morton’s creative energy is at an all-time high. Over the course of two decades spent building a worldwide audience as guitarist and songwriter for Lamb of God, there were still elements of his songwriting that weren’t finding their way to the surface which resulted in 2019’s Anesthetic, a solo album featuring a host of high-profile artists, including late Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington. Without The Pain, his second solo outing is a paean to his longstanding love of southern rock. Produced by longtime collaborator Josh Wilbur, the album features a world class list of contributors, including some of Americana, rock and country’s biggest names. Outlaw country star Cody Jinks delivers two powerful songs, including the haunting “Brother”; Blackberry Smoke frontman Charlie Starr teams up with Americana superstar Jason Isbell on “Come December”, and Jaren Johnston of the The Cadillac Three delivers an attitude packed performance on opening track, “Hell & Back”. The album also features country hitmaker Travis Denning, Troy Sanders of Mastodon, blues guitar phenomenon Tyler Bryant and cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “The Needle And The Spoon”, purposefully delivered by Neil Fallon of Clutch. The album’s title track is a storming anthemic rocker fronted by Matt James of Blacktop Mojo, who will be fronting the live band when it hits the road in 2025.”I’ve been waiting my whole life to make this record. It’s such an incredible thrill for me to see these songs fully realized. I’m ecstatic to have Without The Pain be the destination for them. I’m so proud of this project.”
