Godsmack drummer Shannon Larkin told Away-Team.com that the band is aiming to have its fifth studio album completed by December 15th, with a tentative March 2010 release date in the works. Larkin said about the record, "It's going to be a monster. The drums sound incredible, Sully's (Erna) voice is on fire . . . it's gonna be much more like the first record; much heavier, with simple, catchy guitar-driven riffs."

Frontman Sully Erna is co-producing the album with former Ugly Kid Joe guitarist Dave Fortman, who has carved out an impressive producing career with projects from Slipknot and Mudvayne on his resume. Larkin said that the band has worked up 15 new songs, with a total of 11 likely to make the final track listing.

The new Godsmack CD will be the band's first collection of all-new material in four years, following 2006's IV.

Sully Erna told us recently that he doesn't expect Godsmack to take another extended hiatus between studio albums this time around: "By the time we finish touring, we'll be writing on the road, and probably just do a sixth record back to back. And then maybe after that cycle, that'll be about four years from now -- four and a half years! -- and then we'll probably take a little bit of time off maybe and then figure out where we're at from there."

During their break, the band released a greatest hits set, while the rest of the group minus Erna issued an album under the name Another Animal. Erna has also been working on his first solo effort.