They've been the leaders and figureheads of the American heavy metal scene since the early '80s, and return hard with their eighth album, Punching The Sky. A diverse, attitude soaked collection that is everything the band's fans have come to expect from them as they push their signature sound "The goal is to write really good music. I know I'm stating the obvious here, but that's about the extent of our agenda," says bassist Joey Vera. "We have a lot of expectations that can sometimes plague a band like ours that has been around for a long time, and we've recently moved into a comfort zone of just being ourselves. We have that kind of freedom now that we didn't really have at the beginning of our career, and we can take some risks and make the kind of music that we want to hear. This record is a reflection of where we are right now."