They came hurtling across the cosmos to destroy our planet.

They came without warning, they came with strange powers, and they came with an agenda... to rock your sorry ass.

Or so it would seem, but the men of Powerman 5000 have a slightly different story. After forming in Boston, the band's first incarnation surfaced in 1994 with the release of the "True Force" EP. A year later, the full-length "The Blood-Splat Rating System" got an indie release, perking up the ears of Dreamworks Records. The label inked a deal with PM5K, tweaked "Blood-Splat" and released it as "Mega!! Kung Fu Radio" in 1997.

In those days, frontman Spider One (brother of Rob Zombie) packed his vocals with more of a hip-hop punch, and the band's aesthetic owed more to classic kung-fu flicks than the '50s sci-fi that shapes "Tonight the Stars Revolt."

It's more than the group's look that's changed since the last time around. The arrival of guitarist M.33 has beefed up the band's riffs, and a lengthy stint on the road has solidified its sound. So far, it's all paying off as the first single from "Tonight," the undeniably infectious "When Worlds Collide," earned the band time on rock radio and landed it on tour with Sevendust and Kid Rock.

Recently Spider, bassist Dorian, drummer Al 3, and guitarists Adam 12 and M.33 sat down with MTV News' Robert Mancini and talked about the band's devotion to classic sci-fi, where their brand of dance-metal fits in with the current crop, and what "Flash Gordon" has to do with their latest video. They also explained once and for all how they turned up on a 1996 episode of "Beverly Hills 90210."

You can catch that conversation as well as streaming snippets of the band's sound and video right here in our feature.

Prepare for destruction...