Mark Morton (musician)

Mark Morton
Lamb of God guitarist Mark Morton at the Download Festival 2007
Background information
Birth name	Mark Duane Morton
Born	(1972-11-25) November 25, 1972 United States
Genres	Heavy metal, groove metal
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar
Years active	1989-present
Labels	Prosthetic, Epic
Associated acts	Lamb of God, Burn the Priest
Website	Lamb of God website

Mark Duane Morton (born November 25, 1972) is the lead guitarist of the American heavy metal band Lamb of God.

Before Lamb of God

Morton grew up near Williamsburg, Virginia. His first band was Axis, which was composed of other local youth, one being Ryan Lake of Alabama Thunderpussy fame. Morton played rhythm guitar. The band became a popular local act winning the local battle of the bands competition, known as Stockwood, in 1988.

Morton in Axis, March 1988, winning performance at Stockwood. Ryan Lake on left. Photo by: Michelle Spalding

Biography

Mark Morton, Chris Adler, and John Campbell met in 1990 at Virginia Commonwealth University where they were floor mates. Several years later, they formed a band under the name "Burn the Priest". Morton soon left to pursue a master's degree, and the band added guitarist Abe Spear, and vocalist, Randy Blythe. After a couple years apart, Morton rejoined the group and Burn the Priest released a self titled full length album. He was credited as "Duane" on the album "New American Gospel" Lamb of God's first major release.

Morton frequently utilizes pentatonic scales and harmonic minor scales, and it has been noted that he has a blues style to his music. He composes and plays almost all of Lamb of God's guitar solos and forms many of the heavy groove rhythms.

Guitarist Mark Morton performing at the Download Festival music concert in 2007.

His performing gear consists mostly of various Jackson guitars, including a Rhoads style and Swee-Tone archtop (both seen in the Killadelphia DVD) and, most often, his own signature model, the Jackson Dominion strung with GHS Boomer Strings 10-46 tuned to drop-D, loaded with a Seymour Duncan '59 in the bridge and a Duncan Jazz in the neck. He has recently developed a signature "Dominion" pickup with Dimarzio, which he is now using in his signature guitars. Onstage, Mark uses two Dual Mesa Boogie Mark V heads amplifiers with Mesa 4X12 cabinets His rack gear includes a Sennheiser wireless system, a DBX 266XL compressor / noise gate, and a splitter box. Mark only uses a few pedals on stage, Original Cry Baby Wah Pedal, MxR Eddie Van Halen Phaser which "makes his solos sear", MxR Overdrive pedal, and a Boss tuning pedal. Recently, it has been rumored that a signature Crybaby might be in production.

Morton is known for writing some of Lamb of God's less conventional songs. These include, "Descending", "Vigil", and "Remorse Is for the Dead". In the DVD documenting the making of Sacrament, he made the point that he likes to "toss in the wildcard, the oddball, 'cause for every three you toss in, one of 'em winds up being real special because it's that different." Morton has also written some of the band's more traditional metal songs, such as, "Now You've Got Something to Die For", "Redneck" and "Walk With Me in Hell".

In March 2012, Morton collaborated with DevilDriver frontman Dez Fafara on a new project called Born of the Storm. Two songs were released, 'Nowhere Fast' and 'Dust'. Dez's vocals are different from his trademark DevilDriver vocals on these songs and Mark's guitar sound is more original and incorporates bluesy rock riffs, a style that Mark is making into his own.

On Thursday, 19 July 2012, Morton released his own song titled 'To Make Sure2'. He announced the release of his song through his Facebook page. He wrote: "heres a tune i worked on with some friends the other night....sumthin different....hope you enjoy."

Equipment

Guitars

• Jackson Mark Morton Dominion
• Jackson RR5 (Rarely uses it since acquiring his Signature with Jackson. Only used on "Ruin")
• Jackson King V (Only used on the New American Gospel recordings)
• Jackson USA Custom Shop Swee-Tone
• Jackson Warrior
• Jackson Soloist (used on the recent No Fear Energy Tour)
• Jackson Adrian Smith San Dimas DK (used on the recent No Fear Energy Tour)
• Gibson Les Paul Standard Gold
• Framus Renegade Pro (With neck pickup removed)
• Framus Camarillo Custom
• Jackson RR24
• JAW Custom Les Paul Style
• Jackson Soloist custom (originally built for Joe Duplantier from Gojira. Seen in Desolation music video)

Amplifiers & Cabinets

• Mesa Boogie Mark IV Amplifier
• Mesa Boogie Royal Atlantic
• Mesa Boogie 4x12 Cabinets (x9) (2 loaded, 7 unloaded)
• Marshall Amplification Hot-Rodded head (Only used on Wrath)
• Marshall Amplification 4x12 Cabinets (Only used on Wrath)
• Orange Amplification 4x12 Cabinets (Only used on Wrath)
• Mesa Boogie Mark V Amplifier
• Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier (added to his rig in 2008)

Accessories

• Dimarzio Dominion and Breed pickups
• Various Seymour Duncan pickup models with the Duncan SH-1 '59 set prominent
• Sennheiser Wireless System
• Boss TU-2 Chromatic Tuner
• Boss NS-2 Noise Gate
• Dunlop Crybaby Wylde Wah
• Dunlop Crybaby Rack
• MXR EVH Phase 90
• Dunlop Crybaby JC95 Jerry Cantrell Wah
• MXR Kerry King 10 Band EQ
• MXR Carbon Copy Delay
• Way Huge Green Rhino Overdrive
• Rocktron Hush Super C
• DBX 266xl Compressor/Gate
• GHS Boomer Strings 10-48
• 1.14 mm Dunlop Tortex picks

Guitar rig and signal flow

A detailed gear diagram of Mark Morton's 2005 Lamb of God guitar rig is well-documented.

Discography

With Burn the Priest

• Demo Tape (1995, Independently Released)
• Split with ZED (1997, Goatboy Records)
• Split with Agents of Satan (1998, Deaf American Recordings)
• Sevens and More (1998, mp3.com)

• Burn the Priest (1999, Legion Records)
• Legion: XX (2018, Epic / Nuclear Blast)

With Lamb of God

• New American Gospel (2000, Prosthetic Records) (Credited under his middle name, Duane)
• As the Palaces Burn (2003, Prosthetic Records)
• Ashes of the Wake (2004, Epic Records)
• Killadelphia (2005, Epic Records)
• Sacrament (2006, Epic Records)
• Wrath (2009, Roadrunner Records/Epic Records)
• Resolution (2012, Roadrunner Records/Epic Records)
• VII: Sturm und Drang (2015, Epic Records/Nuclear Blast Records)

References

Further reading

• Lamb Of God’s Mark Morton reveals pain behind Embers
• LAMB OF GOD’S MARK MORTON TALKS GRAMMY NOM & TOURING AFTER PARIS ATTACKS: INTERVIEW
• Mark Morton at Jackson Guitars

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