MANILA, Philippines?They?re back and rockin? hard as ever.

Sans original drummer Wolf Gemora, rock band Wolfgang appears not to have lost its touch, as evident in ?Villains,? the much-awaited seven-year follow-up to their last studio album ?Black Mantra.?

Frontman Basti Artadi told INQUIRER.net in an exclusive interview that the creative process leading to Wednesday?s official release of ?Villains? began at the heels of their successful 2007 reunion.

Six years after they last collaborated, Artadi and guitarist Manuel Legarda found themselves writing the song ?Deathsquad? after the ?Alive 2007? Music Museum gig.

?That song had such a positive effect on us that we said let?s write a whole album. That album was positive. That?s why we?re here today,? Artadi said.

Artadi and Legarda then brought back bassist Mon Legaspi to the fold and signed up Monkeyspank drummer Francis Aquino to complete the Wolfgang line-up to record the subsequent tracks.

The band recorded three other songs ? "Diaspora," "Enemy," and "John of the Cross" ?and made them available online together with ?Deathsquad? last year. Response from die-hard fans was tremendous, as interest in the new Wolfgang tracks led to a final decision to produce an entire album.

?If any of these things didn?t work out, if the songs weren?t good, if it didn?t come out good and they were just so-so, we wouldn?t have made it,? Artadi said.

Why did it take that long? Why did the band members abruptly go separate ways, migrate to other countries and join other bands before reuniting again?

The answer, Artadi said, was all about finding the right time and opportunity. Not, as what other quarters would claim as the band members? disillusionment of the Philippine music scene.

?Let?s be clear first,? Artadi said. ?We weren?t disillusioned with the Filipino music scene. We had plans in the works. But they didn?t happen because of 9/11 and other things. So we decided to just cool off first for a bit and come back when something does happen that sparks interest in us and says this is something worth coming back for.?

Something did happen and ?Villains? is now a reality, with the iconic rock band mounting the ?Black Christmas Project? concert at the Eastwood Central Plaza on Wednesday night to officially launch the new 10-track album, which will be the first-ever ?straight to digital? release from a major Filipino act.

The entire ?Villains? album is available at the Smart Music Store by pointing phone browsers to wap.smart.com.ph/wolfgang for full track or true tone downloads. CD copies of the album will be released soon through the band?s independent label Semenelin Music primarily via online orders.

Aside from the four mentioned tracks, the album also includes ?Ibrahim? and ?Novus is Burning,? which was written for a popular online game.

?While it does have a running theme,? said Artadi, ?(?Villains?) is not a concept album.? The album showcases the distinctive Wolfgang sound that made the group the dominant rock band in the 1990s. ?We?ve never paid attention to trends ? we believe we?ve done good work on the album and it?s something we are proud of.?