Alter Bridge is an American rock band formed by former members of the popular band Creed, which featured Scott Stapp on vocals. Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Phillips formed Alter Bridge with Myles Kennedy on lead vocals and Guitar, which was formerly of group The Mayfield Four. Alter Bridge released their debut album "One Day Remains" on August 10, 2004 along with their first single "Open Your Eyes", which was followed by "Find The Real" and "Broken Wings". They band released their second album, Blackbird on October 9th, 2007. Their first single of the album, "Rise Today", was released on July 30th, 2007. Roadrunner Records are delighted to announce the release of American rock band ALTER BRIDGE’s third album, AB III, in October 2010. The acclaimed band, fronted by Myles Kennedy and also including Mark Tremonti, Brian Marshall and Scott Philips, will follow up the release with European dates between 16 October and 4 December. “We’ve been wanting to pair up with Roadrunner for a while now,” says Tremonti. “We’ve always thought it would be the perfect home for us, especially with all the other acts on the Roadrunner roster, so we really wanted to make it happen.” He adds: “We’re real excited to get the record out. We lock ourselves into a room 24 hours a day when we’re doing a record, and we put everything we had into AB III. It’s been a whirlwind!” Looking back at Alter Bridge’s brief but tumultuous career to date, you can’t help but agree with him. Formed in 2004 by Tremonti and Phillips after a cooling of their relationship with Creed singer Scott Stapp (Creed has since reconciled and reunited), the new band hooked up with then ex-Creed bassist Marshall and former Mayfield Four frontman Kennedy (who now also fronts Slash’s touring band) and recorded their debut album, One Day Remains. The album soon went gold in the USA and spawned three singles and, in addition, the now-classic WWE Superstar Edge’s theme, Metalingus. Alter Bridge’s rise was swift, with Tremonti becoming a regular cover artist in guitar magazines due to his unearthly axemanship. A second album, Blackbird, was released in 2007 and also produced a slew of singles, among them Watch Over You, used to promote VH-1’s Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew. A world tour followed and helped to ram home the Alter Bridge message to hundreds of thousands of fans. So what is that message? For the first two albums the theme seemed to be about new beginnings and the struggle to stay positive in the face of adversity. However, on this third album, Tremonti tells us that while all the Alter Bridge members share a common bond musically, their views on many subjects differ. “We all believe different things,” he says. “In fact, the overall theme of this record is Myles’ struggle with faith. He has trouble believing in anything spiritual, and he really puts that out there. Personally, I don’t believe in organized religion: I think it’s crazy to believe that people are going to burn in hell if they don’t go to the same church that you do.” One of AB III’s many high points is the song Words Darker Than Their Wings, which refers to the very real dilemma faced by Kennedy when it comes to reconciling the tangible and spiritual worlds. “Myles once said that he didn’t believe in anything,” recalls Tremonti. “I said, ‘You’ve got to believe in something: even Albert Einstein came to believe that this universe was constructed too cleverly to be happenstance’. This turned into Words Darker Than Their Wings, and both Myles and I ended up singing two different vocal lines on it… that alone makes the song much different from anything we have ever done” AB III is a record of stark contrasts. Produced by the renowned Michael “Elvis” Baskette, the album – whose tracklisting was revealed to the fans via Myspace on August 9 – offers a feast of listening experiences. “We went into the process of putting the record together with a lot of confidence,” Tremonti reveals, “but we didn’t go into it looking to be commercial, or to have radio singles. We just wanted this to be an album that pleased us artistically, through and through.” “We are always writing,” he continues. “I have ideas that make it onto albums six years after I first wrote them! Most of AB III was written in the last two or three years, but there are some parts that have been around for much longer than that. The very first song, Slip To The Void, has one of my favorite vocal performances ever by Myles – the song is really creepy and lets the listener know the vibe of the record. It’s pretty dark. The intro really sucks you in…” Darkness isn’t the album’s only emotion, of course – there’s plenty of aggression too. Take Isolation, for instance, which pays homage to classic heavy music. Tremonti: “That’s a more upbeat tune, with some real metal in there – in fact it has a speed metal bridge. It has a melodic chorus, though: melody is still the most important thing for us. There’s no point in being heavy just for the sake of being heavy.” Producer Baskette, described by Tremonti as “like a fifth band-member”, enabled the band to encompass a whole world of emotion on this album, stretching from the philosophical (“Wonderful Life is about a man who’s losing his wife to a disease. The message is to live each day to the fullest, because you never know what’s going to happen”) to the heartfelt (“Coeur D’Alene is about a safe haven – your home away from home”). Oh, and there’s some hellacious metal darkness on there as well – from sources you might not expect. “My favorite song on the record – and the darkest – is Show Me A Sign”, explains Tremonti, adding with a chuckle: “I was into Celtic Frost and Venom when I was growing up: this isn’t a metal song, but it certainly contains a brooding darkness that is palpable!” Put all this together and what do you have? A dynamic album that truly takes the listener on a complex and almost harrowing musical journey. You might think you had Alter Bridge all figured out with albums one and two. With AB III, Alter Bridge will shatter your expectations and take you on a ride you will not soon forget. www.alterbridge.com www.myspace.com/alterbridge