THIN LIZZY recently entered the studio to begin recording its first new album in nearly 30 years for a tentative 2013 release. It will be the group's first studio set since "Thunder And Lightning" in 1983, and its first to not include frontman Phil Lynott, who died in 1986.

THIN LIZZY's current lineup features Lynott-era LIZZY members Scott Gorham (guitar), Brian Downey (drums) and Darren Wharton (keyboards), as well as guitarist Damon Johnson, formerly of BROTHER CANE and Alice Cooper's band, former THE ALMIGHTY singer/guitarist Ricky Warwick, and bassist Marco Mendoza.

In a brand new interview with Gibson.com, Johnson stated about THIN LIZZY's plans for a new studio album, "We all know it's going to be under the microscope. We know there will be pundits who criticize it. But pundits aren't necessarily fans. The fans have always wanted these amazing songs to continue to be performed live. And now we need new material to put extra life into this."

Regarding how the new material is sounding, Johnson said, "There's been a commitment from everyone to embrace the diversity of what THIN LIZZY is. Towards the original end, they made 'Thunder And Lightning'. That album was so heavy. A lot of the writing, it seemed Phil wanted to go down a heavy metal route for a while. That's not what the new album will be. There are some big fat riffs. Classic. I can assure you, we have the riffs. We have eight-to-10 songs written, we want to finish another 10."

On the topic of how Ricky Warwick is handling it all as THIN LIZZY's new frontman, Johnson said, "Ricky has been amazing. There is no easier target in this than Ricky — he knows that. But he has blown my mind with his writing. He's constantly writing, constantly reading, changing things to make lyrics better. I've done my own share of lyric writing, but I've never seen someone work so hard as Ricky. We can bring any piece of music to Ricky, and he comes up with a killer lyric. He deserves a huge amount of credit. He's not just 'a new frontman.' The guy is a class songwriter. And that's what Scott and Brian needed to make another THIN LIZZY record."