Richard Patrick of Filter, courtesy.

Filter frontman Richard Patrick is clearly enthusiastic. His band’s latest record, The Algorithm, is a creative work that’s seven years in the making—the culmination of a rollercoaster ride of creative ups and downs. He’s also on the verge of leaving for tour with a trio of legendary rockers in Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper and Ministry.

The origins of his latest work date back to a computer he bought when he delved into film scoring.

“I dived into the engineering aspect of making records, and I hadn’t done that for awhile,” Patrick said from his home studio. “I primarily made myself the gatekeeper of all things that were going in and out of the sessions.”

Putting himself in the producer’s chair, Patrick oversaw the creative direction, which began with a reunion collaboration with his friend and Filter cofounder Brian Liesegang. It would be short-lived, however.

“That fell through because of the PledgeMusic debacle that happened and killed my fanbase, essentially,” Patrick said.

He moved forward with four songs from the project but otherwise started from scratch. Over the next several years, he hopped back and forth from film scoring to working on new music for Filter. Eventually he had 11 songs he was proud in and a label that shared his excitement—The Algorithm.

“Everyone has been assigned algorithms online; an algorithm is a problem that needs to be solved,” Patrick said. “My biggest problem was alcoholism. I had to get over alcoholism, and I talk about that in the song ‘Obliteration.'”

The album is a mission statement of sorts, but the album’s visuals go in a different direction.

“It’s about this astronaut that comes back to earth to find it completely destroyed, but there’s a few people that live,” Patrick said. “What are the reasons why it was blown up? That’s what we discover in the lyrics.”

Those circumstances are a cross-section of politics and culture, from human-made climate damage to the warring tensions of dictators and the battle for truth in the digital space.

Patrick took a hands-on approach when it came to making videos for the album’s singles.

“I’ve felt really creative these last few years, and I have a vision for every song,” Patrick said. “I have a very cool idea for ‘Burn Out the Sun.’ I’m gonna work with a video director that can work with a smaller budget and pick his brain, and have a good time doing it.”

Rob Zombie personally invited Patrick and Filter out to the Freaks on Parade mega-package summer tour. Patrick jumped at the opportunity. He calls Ministry a “life-changing band” for his own musical career trajectory.

“There was two times in my musical career; before and after The Land of Rape and Honey when I got into industrial music,” Patrick said. “There was this kid who had just gotten a record contract. His name was Trent Reznor. I got involved with Nine Inch Nails because I thought it was the closest thing to industrial that was out there.”

Patrick has noticed a shift in the crowds to which Filter plays, as evidenced by an appearance earlier this year at Las Vegas hard rock festival, Sick New World.

“There’s a new bunch of kids out there that want to discover the old stuff as well as the new stuff, and thank goodness,” Patrick said. “They are totally welcome, and we love them, and come on out to the big rock show!”

Follow writer Mike DeWald at Twitter.com/mike_dewald.