Alter Bridge are fast becoming a household name due in no small part to the angelic tones of lead vocalist Myles Kennedys stint as Slashs frontman. Take three of the four guys from one of the most (unnecessarily) hated bands in history; Creed, replace that bands Achilles heel with Mr Kennedy, coupled with the want to break away from all thats gone before, and you have Alter Bridge. Whilst their first album still appeared to be leaning on some subtle Creedian tropes with the likes of Broken Wings and Down To My Last, sophomore effort Blackbird was a knock on the door of the all-time greats, instantly propelling the band into their own category of melodic hard rock. Kennedy was now fully on-board, contributing phenomenal melodies and a twin-guitar attack that would come to define them. Blackbird offered his genuinely jaw-dropping range powered by a technical beast of a man in guitarist Mark Tremonti, all resting on the locomotive-resiliance of bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Flip Phillips. Whilst said door seemed to briefly swing open due to the likes of the grinding Ties That Bind and title track Blackbird, through continual problems with record company promotion, it wasnt until Alter signed with Roadrunner that they got the attention they justly deserved. Lead single from third album AB III, Isolation, was a metal-fans wet dream, a brutally heavy track with a fretboard-spanning riff from Tremonti that showcased his long-dormant metal influences perfectly. Couple that with the overall concept-album approach AB III had, taking the listener on a dark journey through self-doubt and meaning-of-life-esque ponderings, and it was a definitive step-up from Blackbird in terms of providing further identity for the band. AB III took Alter to stadiums, headlining Wembley Arena back in 2011 for the first time, and thus prepping the band to prove why they should stay in the big leagues with new album Fortress. As Myles had another tour under his belt with Slash, upping his game as a frontman and Tremonti released one hell of a solo album last year, Alter have seemingly already built their own fortress for all to see, but is it worth checking out?