ALTER BRIDGE's MARK TREMONTI On Future Of A.I.: 'In The History Of The Human Race, This Will Be The Last Time You'll Know Art Is Real'

In a new interview with Metal Covenant, ALTER BRIDGE's Mark Tremonti and Myles Kennedy were asked what worries them the most about making and releasing a new album in 2026. Mark responded: "Well, going forward, it's gonna be this A.I. [artificial intelligence] thing. I think everybody needs to enjoy it as much as they can because in the history of the human race, this will be the last time you'll know art is real. It's anything from music to literature to movie scripts to paintings to visual art, A.I. is gonna come on in. There's gonna be a lot of true artists that keep doing it true, but they're gonna be overwhelmed by the just overwhelming amount of fake art that's gonna come out."

Myles chimed in: "And I think the other thing that's gonna be interesting is when you put a record out, they can even do it with this record because it's certainly capable at this point, people will be, like, 'Oh, is that something that they actually created, or did they just have A.I. do that and then they performed it?' Is it gonna take away the mystique where people are always second-guessing whether it's actually legit?"

He added: "Both [Mark and I] are extremely passionate about writing. I think writing is what drives us more than anything. We love the creative process, so the idea that someone would think for a second that you might not have actually chased it down yourself is kind of heartbreaking."

Mark continued: "And I feel a little hypocritical, 'cause of my first video for the last TREMONTI [project] album, I found this great visual artist. This is right when A.I. was starting to do the visual art. By the time we released it, the A.I. thing was all over the place, and people see the video, like, 'What is this A.I. bullshit?' I was, like, 'Well, I just saw this visual artist and Tim [Tournier, manager] went and hired him.' So at the very beginnings of all that, I put out a video that was very A.I. based. But that being said, it was probably the baddest-ass video I've ever had. It's incredible. But as far as the music stuff goes, that's where it's gonna get super scary."

ALTER BRIDGE's eighth, self-titled studio album will arrive this Friday, January 9, 2026 via Napalm Records.

"Alter Bridge" is comprised of 12 all-new tracks, including songs like "Rue The Day", "Disregarded" and "Scales Are Falling", which will fit alongside any of the classic songs from ALTER BRIDGE's catalog.

"Alter Bridge" was once again helmed by the band's longtime collaborator and producer Michael "Elvis" Baskette and was recorded over two months last spring at the legendary 5150 studio in California and Elvis's recording studio in Florida.

ALTER BRIDGE's current lineup consists of Myles Kennedy (vocals/guitars),Mark Tremonti (guitars/vocals),Brian Marshall (bass) and Scott Phillips (drums).

ALTER BRIDGE will be touring in support of the release. The band is heading out on the "What Lies Within" tour. The 31-date European leg of the trek will kick off on January 15 in Germany and will wrap on March 5 in Nottingham, U.K. Support on the tour will come from DAUGHTRY and SEVENDUST. The band also announced a headline U.S. tour featuring FILTER or SEVENDUST and Tim Montana as support in select markets. The tour kicks off on April 25 in Orlando, Florida and runs through May 24 where it wraps in Tampa, Florida.

Photo credit: Chuck Brueckmann