Excuse the image - Dark Trip isn't available to link in. Instead, check out one of Mark's own 'dark trips' from a bygone tour. On with the review: Speaking of dark, this aptly named track is one of only two songs on the album that doesn't start by taking your head clean off. Instead it's a very unique-sounding picking pattern, and one that allows for Tremonti to open up his lyrics book to describe a figure from his past he let into his home - only for them to betray everything that sentiment should prevent. Influenced by a no-named real figure, it provides enough emotional ammunition to belt out one of the most memorably delivered choruses on the album, leading into a solo that feels like a massive release of pent-up aggression thanks to Tremonti's proficiency on the instrument. As far as ballads in the traditional sense go, they're rarely seen on Cauterize - but if the core parts of that label are introspective lyrics and thought-provoking advice for listeners to take away, Dark Trip delivers in spades.
