The Todd La Torre-fronted version of QUEENSRŸCHE kicked off the recording sessions for its new album yesterday (Sunday, December 2) at London Bridge Studios in Seattle, Washington with producer James "Jimbo" Barton — the man who engineered and mixed the band's classic 1988 LP, "Operation: Mindcrime", and its 1990 follow-up, "Empire", and co-produced 1994's "Promised Land". La Torre — who is also a member of Florida melodic metallers CRIMSON GLORY — states, "Day one of recording the new QUEENSRŸCHE album went great! Great things on the horizon."

The new QUEENSRŸCHE CD is tentatively due in early 2013 via an as-yet-undetermined record label.

In a recent interview with Metal Assault, QUEENSRŸCHE drummer Scott Rockenfield stated about the band's renewed collaboration with Barton: "It's a great thing — we're really excited about it, he's really excited about it. We've wanted to work with him for a while, but for whatever reason, we just hadn't gone there yet. This is a great time for us to do that, though. We all discussed who we wanted to do the record with, and he was one of the first names that came up. It was easy for us to pick up the phone and call him. It was like our relationship picked up right where it left off, so it's gonna be a lot of fun. He's a very creative guy that did some great records with us in the past. I think that's one of the most important things when it comes to why we want to work with him."

Asked if fans will see a return to the progressive metal sound QUEENSRŸCHE had in the '80s, Scott said: "What we're trying to do, and what has been really interesting since Todd has jumped into the band, we're trying to revisit the old QUEENSRŸCHE catalog — stuff off of the EP and "The Warning". That's always been a part of what we are, so yeah, definitely! I think in my opinion, we're really revisiting that vibe of why that music was special back then for us. There will be a modern flair to it, though, just because we're in the modern age. The fun thing about Jimbo being a part of it is that he can help tie together the two sides. He does come from our past and some of the great records and some of the great sounds that we're known for, but he's also living in the modern age and doing some interesting things as well. I think it's going to be a really great QUEENSRŸCHE record. People are going to go, 'Wow, that's QUEENSRŸCHE! That sounds just like what we've known them to be, and what we would expect them to now be.' That's what I think peple will get out of it."

Regarding the songwriting process for the new QUEENSRŸCHE CD, Scott said: "One thing about this record, is that it's completely written and performed by us five in QUEENSRŸCHE, which for whatever it's worth, was not the case as of the last few records that we made. We're really excited. That was one of the things that we really needed to work on and change and that we weren't really happy with. The whole record is us doing our thing, and you're going to get the energy that comes out of that. It's been a lot of fun because we've been tossing some great ideas around. The results will be when it's finally done and you can listen to it, but we're really excited about it and I think everyone else is gonna have a good time once they hear it."

Pictured below: QUEENSRŸCHE in the studio with James "Jimbo" Barton (Photo credit: Savoia Photography Live)