“Words Darker Than Their Wings”, a brand new song from the American rock band ALTER BRIDGE, is available for free download at this location (sign-up required). The track comes off the group’s third album, “AB III”, which will be released on October 8 via Roadrunner Records in all territories except North America. The CD was produced by Michael “Elvis” Baskette, who has previously worked with CHEVELLE and RATT.

Regarding “Words Darker Than Their Wings”, vocalist Myles Kennedy says, “The lyric was inspired by a conversation I had with a good friend a while ago. It was the catalyst for the idea of having both Mark [Tremonti, guitar] and I trade off on the lead vocal. I thought it would be a good way of making the differing points of view in the ‘conversation’ be more effective. More importantly, I thought Mark sounded great singing it!”

“AB III” track listing:

01. Slip To The Void
02. Isolation
03. Ghost Of Days Gone By
04. All Hope Is Gone
05. Still Remains
06. Make It Right
07. Wonderful Life
08. I Know It Hurts
09. Show Me A Sign
10. Fallout
11. Breathe Again
12. Coeur D’Alene
13. Life Must Go On
14. Words Darker Than Their Wings

The song “Isolation” is available for streaming using the audio player below.

Myles Kennedy told The Pulse of Radio that the follow-up to 2007’s “Blackbird” will be a “darker” effort. “There is certainly a common thread throughout the, almost the entire record,” he said. “It’s lyrically a pretty dark album, probably the darkest record I’ve been a part of. Just a lot of questions personally that I had over the last few years, just things I was struggling with, and it was a very cathartic record for me, just to kind of get that all out. I mean, that’s generally the way I personally like to write lyrics, for things that are honest and from the heart.”

Kennedy also spoke to The Pulse of Radio about how he and and his bandmates approached the new album from a songwriting perspective. “There’s a certain spontaneity to this record basically because of the fact that we arranged it in a much shorter period of time and the way we tend to write, it’s very part-oriented,” he said. “Mark and I will basically stockpile musical ideas and melodic ideas. And then it’s kind of like putting a puzzle together. So we get together with Brian [Marshall, bass] and Scott [Philips, drums/keyboards] and we get everything to gel together in the context of the arrangement. There is certainly a common thread throughout the, almost the entire record,” he said. “It’s lyrically a pretty dark album, probably the darkest record I’ve been a part of. Just a lot of questions personally that I had over the last few years, just things I was struggling with, and it was a very cathartic record for me, just to kind of get that all out. I mean, that’s generally the way I personally like to write lyrics, for things that are honest and from the heart.”

ALTER BRIDGE plans to hit the road in October after the album is out, starting with a European tour.

Kennedy is currently touring with Slash as his live lead vocalist, after singing two numbers on the guitarist’s debut solo album.

The instrumental members of ALTER BRIDGE toured this summer in their other band, CREED.