Rockers My Chemical Romance [ tickets ] are busy at work on their follow-up to 2006's "The Black Parade," and have enlisted heavyweight producer Brendan O'Brien--known for his work with Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots and Bruce Springsteen, among others--to guide them in the studio.

"At this point, the best way to describe the new album is My Chemical Romance being the purest, most distilled version of itself," frontman Gerard Way said in a prepared statement. "No bells and whistles, as the focus has been on melody and songwriting. If it doesn't work in a room with just the five of us, we aren't trying to make it work in the studio with effects and string sections.

"Making 'The Black Parade' allowed us the departure we needed to see what worked and what didn't, experiment, and add a lot of elements we never would have," Way continued. "Sometimes, you need to leave to come back home. To me, it feels like the culmination of everything we have learned as songwriters and players."

Way had plenty of praise for O'Brien, as well.

"He has the ability to take a band and get the best possible version of that band at that moment, which is what we really wanted," Way said.

"I can say, hands down, [the new album we're working on] is our best record yet," guitarist Ray Toro added. "We've gotten even better as songwriters and musicians, and we cannot wait for people to hear what we came up with."

The group has not yet announced a release date for it's as-yet-untitled fourth album.