After spending a long time away from his childhood state of Montana, Tim Montana decided to return to create his awaited fifth album, Savage (Music Knox Records / BBR / BMG Nashville), inspired by his previous life there, and the state itself. In interviews, Montana has said that Savage was an attempt at being lyrically “brutally honest”. For an artist whose words were already quite poignant, this next level up could be the thing that pushes him to whole new horizons when it comes to his music, but will this new writing process and inspiration become fruitful for Montana?

The opener to Savages doesn’t launch straight into mayhem or a chorus. Instead, Montana opts for a slower approach, an acoustic guitar accompanied by his gravelly vocals is all that fills the space. From the very start, Tim is providing introspective lyrics about the demons in his head while he was making the music, using the old adage “Better the devil you know, than the devil you don’t” – the devil being a metaphor for mental illness. 

This lofi mix is then joined by the rest of the band, going from the country twang previously to more of a post-grunge, rock anthem. Loud, bright guitars, reminiscent of acts like Nickleback take the centre stage alongside Montana’s vocals. This sound features a lot more clearly in the following title-track, bringing forward more inspirations from the big radio rock bands like Shinedown and Seether. 

Bringing forth no other than the Foo Fighters guitarist, Chris Shiflett on what could be the biggest song on the album, “Die Today”, Tim Montana reaches in and produces one of the biggest rock anthems of the year so far. Shiflett backing this up with an Alice In Chains styled guitar hook. “I Forgot To Die Today!” barks out Montana, to what you can already imagine as a packed afternoon festival slot. Without breaking a sweat it seems, the band creates this earworm of “Die Today” that will be surely stuck in your heads for weeks to come. 

This is attempted to be recreated in the song “GET YOU SOME”, but it feels like something is missing throughout, the song feels in your face too much. The nuance of “Die Today” is lost, and it almost feels like a nu-metal song released in 2008, the moment has passed, and trying to recreate that feeling, feels tacky.

Ending the album on “Day by Day” is a bold choice for Tim Montana. The song feels as if the musician is taking a step back from the record, the boldness and brashness that once was there is no longer, and feels as if the album is coming full circle, with a similar atmosphere to the start of the first track. “I just wanna live before it’s over” calls out Tim, the song really feels as if it’s a memoriam to his late father who died of alcoholism. When Montana stated he was going brutally honest, he really meant it, and “Day By Day” is a clear example of this. The song is about him coming to terms with the death of his father, and wanting to live his life to the full knowing that one day, he will soon pass too.

For a bold hard-rock album, like Savage, the lyrical content of the release really doesn’t fall into the category that other peers in their genre tread upon. Introspective, raw, emotional are all words that could be used to approach several songs within the album. 

When Montana is at his best, he’s managing to address these lyrical themes in a beautiful way. Going back to his hometown roots has enabled Tim Montana to create such a reflexive album in Savage, and there’s no telling what the artist will do next.

Buy the album here:
https://timmontana.lnk.to/savagePR

7 / 10
CHARLIE HILL