After a six-year hiatus, the band Filter is back with Richard Patrick at the helm and a new album called Anthems for the Damned. Looking at the world with new perspective, Patrick has used his place in the studio as a pulpit for expressing a lyrical point of view that the world is an immense place, and our role in it as humans is to try to make it better, not worse.

"One day I woke up and realized I might be able to have an impact on other people, or at least get a conversation going geared toward change," the former member of supergroup Army of Anyone and one-time guitarist for Nine Inch Nails says. "It became increasingly important for me to relate this sentiment to others, so I decided not to hold back. Look at history and you'll see that rock music has always been a good place for making something like this happen."

Besides including Patrick, this latest incarnation of Filter brings together the musical talents of guitarist Mitchell Marlow (formerly of He is Legend), bassist John Spiker (Tenacious D), and drummer Mika Fineo (Red Skelton). Back on the road performing live gigs in recent months as well, the band made headlines in March with its participation in Operation MySpace, a concert honoring U.S. troops held in Kuwait that also included Disturbed, The Pussycat Dolls, and Jessica Simpson on its bill. Filter's appearance at the show was highlighted by a reunion onstage with Sgt. Frank Cavanagh, who played bass in the band from 1996-2002 and is now on active duty with the U.S. Army in Iraq.

Patrick feels that fans have embraced Anthems for the Damned because of the quality of the music. "In the past, Filter had other agendas beyond the music," he admits. "We had this hard-drinking, crazy, kind of punk rock ethic. Music is what we're totally into now, and this summer it's going to be all about delivering the goods, period."

In the studio, Patrick's vocals on Anthems for the Damned were recorded exclusively with a Shure SM7. "I used an SM7 the entire time,” he says of the sessions, illustrating yet another example of his longtime loyalty to the mic and Shure. "I love the SM7 for vocals because it can take my screaming -- it never breaks up."

Patrick recorded his vocals for Anthems for the Damned from inside the control room, sitting at the console with the monitors turned down and headphones on. "I hate standing on the other side of the glass with everyone looking out at me," he adds. "I feel like I'm in a fishbowl. I just like to grab the mic and sing from behind the board. For me, it's just a lot easier."