Fall Out Boy guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley are not wasting any time now that their main band is on a possibly permanent hiatus. The pair have started a new metal side group called the Damned Things with Every Time I Die singer Keith Buckley and Anthrax guitarists Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano. According to Alternative Press, the act already has 15 songs written and plans to begin recording its debut album before Christmas.

Trohman said about the project, "Scott's right hand is the reason I got into playing punk rock, hardcore and metal! Having Keith as part of the mix is insane, we all know he writes incredible lyrics but he is also a really good singer."

Ian also commented, "We just started working on songs together and I really dug it. It just felt really good. From there we decided that obviously both of us are pretty busy in our day jobs but let's see what we can do with this . . . It's super fun and it's something that we do totally take seriously because we love the music we've created."

News of the the project probably won't soothe Fall Out Boy fans disappointed by recent signs that the band is going on an indefinite hiatus. Bassist Pete Wentz tried to calm their nerves in an interview with MTV News, saying, "It's a break -- we're decompressing . . . We've been doing this for eight years straight, where it was pre-recording, record, promo, tour, tour, pre-recording, record, tour, tour, and our band was going to imminently implode."

Fall Out Boy released a greatest hits collection called Believers Never Die last Tuesday (November 17th).