Influential metal quintet UNEARTH has begun work on its new album. The follow up to the band’s acclaimed 2006 release III: In the Eyes of Fire is scheduled to drop this October via Metal Blade Records.

UNEARTH is currently recording at MA’s System Recording Studios with producer Adam Dutkiewicz, while the album’s drum tracks are being laid to tape by drummer Derek Kerswill (Kingdom of Sorrow, Seemless) at Zing Studios. The as-yet-untitled record is said to feature the band’s “most dynamic material to date,” combining strong tension and release, abundant guitar solos and a bulldozing power-groove.

“HEAVY METAL SHRED MAYHEM! NOW WITH 50% MORE GUITAR SOLOS!! If the new Unearth songs were laundry detergent, then this is what it would say on the box,” dishes UNEARTH lead guitarist Buz McGrath. “Fortunately for all you metal maniacs, it’s not laundry soap but a mind-blowing journey consisting of epic mosh and shred, so we had to call in the one man who could wrangle such a massive beast – Adam Dutkiewicz. We are very excited to be working with him again and between 40 oz. chugging and doing burn-outs in Ken’s ’82 Corvette, we are recording what will definitely be the best album of our career.”

A “teaser” look at UNEARTH working in the studio can be accessed via the band’s MySpace page at this location. Additional looks at the recording of the album, including fly-on-the-wall video footage, riffs and excerpts of new music will be made available in the coming weeks.

UNEARTH formed in 1998 and in the decade since, has become one of the U.S.’ most proven metal bands, shifting over 400,000 units over the course of its career. The group’s tireless touring schedule has seen it perform alongside some of the genre’s most revered names (including tours with Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne as part of Ozzfest [2004 and 2006] and a 2007 U.S. tour as hand-picked direct support for thrash titans Slayer), and also headline venues the world over, consistently helping give rise to some of extreme music’s fresh blood in the process. In 2007, UNEARTH contributed a song, titled “The Chosen”, to the popular film Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, appearing on the movie’s standout soundtrack amidst contributions from Andrew W.K., Mastodon, The Hold Steady and more.

On August 1, UNEARTH will make a special main stage appearance at the 2008 Wacken Open Air Festival. “Wacken” is the largest exclusively metal music festival in the world and will see UNEARTH share the stage with Iron Maiden, At the Gates, Carcass and more.

In addition to McGrath, UNEARTH features vocalist Trevor Phipps, guitarist Ken Susi, bassist John Maggard and drummer Derek Kerswill.