It might have taken them 15 years to get around to it, but now that the members of Soundgarden are back together and making new music, it sounds like their next album could be in stores relatively quickly -- say, as soon as October 2012.

Singer Chris Cornell talked about the new album with Rolling Stone recently, saying that in his mind, "it's done." The tracks are currently being mastered, and Cornell estimated "I would say September but I'm just guessing October" for a release date. "We're pretty much done with everything," he added.

Once again, Cornell cautioned fans that 'Live to Rise,' the song the band contributed to the 'Avengers' soundtrack, isn't necessarily indicative of the direction they took with their new songs. "Soundgarden does a lot of time signature changes and shifts and things like that. It felt like this should be a little more straightforward 'cause it's for a broad audience," he explained. "The idea of having it be intelligent lyrically and melodic and all these things – it's a task to do all that stuff. Once I got started I wanted it to be right."

Getting it right was doubly important to the band because of the way the climate in the music industry has changed since the last time Soundgarden released an album. "It's a pretty good way to have a partner in the entertainment business to get your songs out in front of people," Cornell admitted. "The record companies don't have that any more. They don't have the money. They don't have the resources. They can't do it. They won't do it. Not gonna happen."

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