MARK TREMONTI: Some Of My Favorite Riffs Of All Time Are On SLAYER's Song 'Raining Blood'

In a recent interview with AOL's Noisecreep, ALTER BRIDGE and CREED guitarist Mark Tremonti was asked what he listened to as a kid and what helped shape him musically. "The first record that really made me a music fanatic was METALLICA's 'Master Of Puppets'," he said. "That's probably my favorite record of all time. From there I searched for the heaviest, darkest, meanest sounding stuff I could find. I grew up in Detroit and my friends listened to SLAYER and TESTAMENT — I got into punk, too, like BLACK FLAG and MINISTRY. And I got really into black metal. I got into CELTIC FROST, KING DIAMOND and MERCYFUL FATE. I loved that stuff. I'd have to control the volume though so I'd turn it down when they said 'praise Satan' or whatever to keep my parents from taking my records away. [laughs]"

When asked if there were there specific metal guitarists that influenced him and his riffs, Mark said. "[METALLICA's] James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, for sure. That down stroke thing they do is one of my core sounds — my rhythm playing is very rooted in the METALLICA-based style. And SLAYER's approach, too. Some of my favorite riffs of all time are on SLAYER's song 'Raining Blood' and that really inspired me to write man of the menacing metal riffs that I have over the years. That's really what turned me on when I was younger, that kind of music."

Tremonti's debut solo album, "All I Was", was released on July 17 via Fret 12 Records, a company Mark started with his brother, Daniel Tremonti, and Tom Stanley.

With two bands and a solo career, The Pulse Of Radio asked Tremonti how he knows which project the songs he writes are best suited for. "I've just gotten this filter, this intuition that tells me what songs go to which band, and with my solo stuff, the rhythm section is so different from the other bands, I think it really stands apart," he said. "I think it's a little more aggressive than both the other bands, but you just have to hear it, I guess."

His solo band, also billed TREMONTI, features ALTER BRIDGE and CREED bassist Brian Marshall in the lineup along with guitarist Eric Friedman and drummer Garrett Whitlock.