Powerman 5000 have started recording a "heavy and groovy" follow-up to their 1999 breakthrough, Tonight the Stars Revolt!, with producer Terry Date, according to bassist Dorian 27.

While the as-yet-untitled album likely won't be released until June, the Boston band's home video and DVD, "Backstage and Beyond the Infinite," will hit stores February 27. Dorian edited most of the retrospective, which comprises backstage and onstage footage from throughout the group's 10-year career, as well as music videos, television interviews and material submitted by fans.

PM5K, who worked with producer Ulrich Wild on the platinum-selling Tonight, enlisted Date for their third LP because they were impressed with the Seattle-scene veteran's track record, which includes albums by Soundgarden, Pantera and the Deftones.

"He made some of the biggest hard-rock records in the last 10 years, and we just got to that point, instead of us pushing a producer, we want a producer who's big-time and pushes us," Dorian said. "We got him, and we're psyched."

The bassist said the new album will be "a little heavier, a little faster and more hooky" than its predecessor, which featured the modern-rock hit "When Worlds Collide".

The band hopes to finish recording by late February, and plans to headline its own summer tour, with a stage set featuring elaborate lights, "flaming pods, rocket ships and lasers," Dorian said, adding, "Nah — we'll see.

"We've done a ton of touring with other bands and it's been great, but I think it's time that we go out and really deliver what we're good at — a complex show," Dorian said. "You go out with some groups, and you can't do much because the stage is small and there's no room. We had the best time [on our last headlining tour], doing theaters, doing our own thing."

In other PM5K news, frontman Spider 1 will launch Megatronic Records, his own imprint through DreamWorks, with the debut from hard-rockers Halfcocked, due later this year.