Mark Morton - Without The Pain (2025) [Hi-Res]

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. ‘Without The Pain’, his second solo outing and a paean to his longstanding love of southern rock is 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’, while Jaren Johnston (The Cadillac Three) delivers an attitude packed performance on opening track,‘Hell & Back’. Meanwhile, country hitmaker Travis Denning – a Georgia-born artist with a previous No. 1 on the US country airplay chart – collaborates on two moving numbers, both featuring subtle and delicate guitar textures that showcase a different dimension of Morton’s songwriting. Troy Sanders (Mastodon) steps up to sing ‘Nocturnal Sun’, a thunderous doom dirge and the heaviest track on the album, while blues guitar phenomenon Tyler Bryant teams up with Morton for a fireworks-filled guitar duel on throwback psychedelic blues romp, ‘Forever In The Light’.