ALTER BRIDGE's New Album Has An 'Old-School Synth-Wave Kind Of Vibe,' Says MARK TREMONTI

ALTER BRIDGE guitarist Mark Tremonti spoke to Kerrang! magazine about the band's upcoming sixth studio album, "Walk The Sky", which will be released on October 18 via Napalm Records.

"It's kinda like a [revered horror maestro] John Carpenter movie — this old-school synth-wave kind of vibe," Mark explained. "Somebody might hear the record and have no idea that was intended, but for a batch of songs, I tapped into some old loops that I either created or found randomly online, and worked with them in the background to inspire me to go in a different direction. I loved working like that. We challenge ourselves to not repeat ourselves and find new inspiration to add a different layer to what we do. It's particularly challenging when you've had so many records, but when I showed Myles [Kennedy, vocals/guitar] what I was thinking, he absolutely loved it and was on board right away."

As for how "Walk The Sky" compares to the rest of ALTER BRIDGE's discography, Mark said: "It's hard to completely get away from who we are — the same four guys in the band — but everyone who's heard the record says it has its own personality and doesn't sound like any particular ALTER BRIDGE record. But that being said, it's familiar ALTER BRIDGE territory, and Myles has said it's kind of the answer to 'AB III'. That was a very brooding and dark lyrical record, whereas this one is the yang to the yin of that. 'AB III' was kind of about a loss of faith and not believing. Myles was having a dark moment in that time and he wrote the majority of the lyrics. This is more of an enlightening, Zen kind of record. It's not a preachy record by any means; it's more of a free-spirited kind of thing."

The first single from the LP, called "Wouldn't You Rather", will arrive in two weeks. Other songs included on the record include "Dying Light", "Godspeed", "Native Son" and "Walking On The Sky". A song called "Forever Falling" features Tremonti on lead vocals.

ALTER BRIDGE will embark on a world tour in September. The trek will launch in the United States before heading over to Europe to close out 2019. The European dates scheduled for November and December will feature support from SHINEDOWN, SEVENDUST and THE RAVEN AGE. The North American dates will be announced in the near future. The band will also take part in the inaugural Exit 111 festival in October and the sold-out 2020 sailing of ShipRocked.

Photo credit: Dan Sturgess