Anesthetic (album)

Anesthetic
Anesthetic
Studio album by Mark Morton
Released	March 1, 2019
Recorded	2017–2018
Studio	Hybrid Studios (Santa Ana, California, US); NRG Studios (North Hollywood, California, US); The Magpie Cage (Baltimore, Maryland, US); The Mill Studio (Cayman Islands);
Genre	Hard rock
Length	42:38
Label	Spinefarm
Producer	Mark Morton; Josh Wilbur; Jake Oni;
Mark Morton chronology
Singles from Anesthetic
	"The Truth Is Dead"; Released: December 14, 2018; "Cross Off"; Released: January 8, 2019; "Save Defiance"; Released: February 22, 2019;

Anesthetic is the first solo album by American guitarist Mark Morton, released on March 1, 2019 via Spinefarm.

Background

The album features guest performances by Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge, Chuck Billy of Testament, Mark Lanegan, Josh Todd of Buckcherry, Alissa White-Gluz of Arch Enemy, the late Chester Bennington of Linkin Park, Jake Oni of Oni and Randy Blythe of Lamb of God. According to Morton, he had been writing new material for his solo record for "quite some time".^[3]

Sound and composition

Mark Morton outlined the difference between his solo album and his work with Lamb of God:

[Anesthetic is] just a little more rock than the music that I guess I'm more traditionally known for with LAMB OF GOD, which is kind of like a thrash metal band, extreme metal. The solo project, it kind of digs into my influences in terms of classic rock and blues rock. It's still hard rock, heavy rock, but it's just not quite as LAMB; it's a little more melodic. I guess a little more conventionally arranged. It just kind of explores my love of hard rock music. The songs themselves are collaborations with a pretty extensive list of artists that I admire as a fan or as a friend or both. I really worked with a large number of people. Most LAMB OF GOD albums are typically done with the band and the producer, so there's six people's input. This album was myself and my producer kind of mainly being the creative directors, then we had all this input from these amazing artists that we brought into the fold. It's very collaborative, diverse and dynamic in that sense. The inspiration, I really had these rock songs that I was writing on my own just in the course of my songwriting, what I do. I had these songs piling up and accumulating that clearly weren't appropriate to submit as LAMB OF GOD material, but were songs that I thought were worth developing. We took that ball and ran with it."^[1]

Release

The first single, "The Truth Is Dead", was released on December 13, 2018, premiering on Sirius XM Liquid Metal. The song features Morton's Lamb of God bandmate Randy Blythe and Arch Enemy frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz on vocals.^[2]^[4]

The second single off the record, "Cross Off", which features Chester Bennington, debuted at number 18 on the US Billboard Hard Rock Digital Song Sales with 2,000 downloads and 209,000 streams in its first week.^[5] A music video for "Cross Off" was released on March 5, directed by Roboshobo.^[6] The music video for "Cross Off" features an empty microphone as a tribute to Bennington, who died in 2017.^[7]

Reception

Wall of Sound gave the album a 7/10 and stated: "On the one hand he has nabbed some great artists to assist him get this album a release, however I think he has missed the mark on half the tracks by playing along with the Lamb of God playbook too often."^[8]

Track listing

*Anesthetic* track listing
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Cross Off" (featuring Chester Bennington)	Mark Morton Josh Wilbur Bennington Jake Oni	4:14
2.	"Sworn Apart" (featuring Jacoby Shaddix)	Morton Wilbur Shaddix	3:57
3.	"Axis" (featuring Mark Lanegan)	Morton Lanegan	4:13
4.	"The Never" (featuring Chuck Billy and Jake Oni)	Morton Wilbur Oni	4:06
5.	"Save Defiance" (featuring Myles Kennedy)	Morton Wilbur Kennedy	4:37
6.	"Blur" (featuring Mark Morales)	Morton Wilbur Mike Inez	5:21
7.	"Back from the Dead" (featuring Josh Todd)	Morton Wilbur Todd	4:03
8.	"Reveal" (featuring Naeemah Maddox)	Morton Maddox Yanni Papadopoulis Jean-Paul Gaster Chris Brooks	4:12
9.	"Imaginary Days"	Morton Wilbur Morales	3:45
10.	"The Truth Is Dead" (featuring Randy Blythe and Alissa White-Gluz)	Morton Wilbur Blythe White-Gluz	4:13
Total length:			42:38

Personnel

Mark Morton – guitars (all tracks), bass (track 2), vocals (on "Imaginary Days")

Additional vocalists

Chester Bennington – vocals (track 1)
Jacoby Shaddix – vocals (track 2)
Mark Lanegan – vocals (track 3)
Chuck Billy – vocals (track 4)
Jake Oni – vocals (track 4)
Myles Kennedy – vocals (track 5), backing vocals (track 2)
Mark Morales – vocals (track 6), backing vocals (track 9)
Josh Todd – vocals (track 7)
Naeemah Maddox – vocals (track 8)
Randy Blythe – vocals (track 10)
Alissa White-Gluz – vocals (track 10)

Additional instrumentalists

Paolo Gregoletto – bass (track 1)
Alex Bent – drums (tracks 1, 2)
Marc Ford – guitars (track 3)
Mike Inez – bass (tracks 3, 5-7, 9)
Steve Gorman – drums (tracks 3, 6)
David Ellefson – bass (tracks 4, 10)
Roy Mayorga – drums (tracks 4, 7, 10)
Ray Luzier – drums (tracks 5, 9)
Yanni Papadopoulos – bass (track 8)
Jean-Paul Gaster – drums (track 8)
Chris Brooks – keyboards (track 8)

Production

Josh Wilbur – producer, engineering, mixing
Mark Morton – producer (track 8)
Jake Oni – executive producer
Jay Robbins – engineering (additional)
Paul Suarez – engineering (additional)
Roy Mayorga – engineering (additional)
Brad Blackwood – mastering
Daniel Danger – artwork, art direction

Charts

Chart performance for *Anesthetic*
Chart (2019)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)^[9]	97
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[10]	98
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)^[11]	8

References

^ ^a ^b "Lamb of God's Mark Morton on His Solo Album: 'It Was More Work Than I Initially Anticipated' - Blabbermouth.net". 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2019-05-14.
^ ^a ^b "LAMB OF GOD Guitarist's 'Anesthetic' Solo Album To Feature Guest Appearances By LINKIN PARK, PAPA ROACH Members". Blabbermouth. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
^ "LAMB OF GOD Guitarist's 'Anesthetic' Solo Album To Feature Guest Appearances By LINKIN PARK, PAPA ROACH Members". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
^ "HEAR LAMB OF GOD GUITARIST MARK MORTON'S NEW SONG WITH RANDY BLYTHE, ALISSA WHITE-GLUZ". Revolver. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
^ "Chester Bennington Returns to Billboard Charts on Mark Morton's 'Cross Off'". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
^ "LAMB OF GOD's MARK MORTON Releases Video For 'Cross Off' Song Featuring CHESTER BENNINGTON". www.blabbermouth.net. Blabbermouth. 5 March 2019. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
^ "Mark Morton And Chester Bennington's Cross Off Video Is Eerily Haunted". Kerrang!.
^ Plugga73 (2019-02-24). "Mark Morton – Anesthetic (Album Review)". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 2019-02-24. Retrieved 2019-02-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "ARIA Chart Watch #515". auspOp. March 9, 2019. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
^ "Swisscharts.com – Mark Morton – Anesthetic". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
^ "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. March 8, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2022.

External links

Anesthetic on Mark Morton's official website

[Blab1-1] "Lamb of God's Mark Morton on His Solo Album: 'It Was More Work Than I Initially Anticipated' - Blabbermouth.net". 14 May 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-05-14. Retrieved 2019-05-14.

[morton_debut-2] "LAMB OF GOD Guitarist's 'Anesthetic' Solo Album To Feature Guest Appearances By LINKIN PARK, PAPA ROACH Members". Blabbermouth. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2018-12-14.

[3] "LAMB OF GOD Guitarist's 'Anesthetic' Solo Album To Feature Guest Appearances By LINKIN PARK, PAPA ROACH Members". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.

[TTID_revolver-4] "HEAR LAMB OF GOD GUITARIST MARK MORTON'S NEW SONG WITH RANDY BLYTHE, ALISSA WHITE-GLUZ". Revolver. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-01-23. Retrieved 2019-01-22.

[5] "Chester Bennington Returns to Billboard Charts on Mark Morton's 'Cross Off'". Billboard. Archived from the original on 18 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.

[6] "LAMB OF GOD's MARK MORTON Releases Video For 'Cross Off' Song Featuring CHESTER BENNINGTON". www.blabbermouth.net. Blabbermouth. 5 March 2019. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2019.

[7] "Mark Morton And Chester Bennington's Cross Off Video Is Eerily Haunted". Kerrang!.

[8] Plugga73 (2019-02-24). "Mark Morton – Anesthetic (Album Review)". Wall of Sound. Archived from the original on 2019-02-24. Retrieved 2019-02-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)

[9] "ARIA Chart Watch #515". auspOp. March 9, 2019. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019.

[ac_Switzerland_Mark_Morton-10] "Swisscharts.com – Mark Morton – Anesthetic". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 13, 2019.

[11] "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. March 8, 2019. Retrieved February 14, 2022.

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