The high expectations were hard to meet, and their fourth and fifth albums sold poorly. Fans were wistful about the first album. Some said the band lost its spirit after legendary frontman Dou Wei left for a solo career in 1992.

That was an obvious and necessary crisis, says Li. "People love our music so much that they placed great hope on us. When we didn't live up to their expectations, they just felt disappointed."

A change in members is definitely devastating for a band, he admits, but the core of a band relies on all rather than a single member.

There were no visible signs of internal quarrelling, no announcement of a breakup or even of a time out, just sudden silence.

Years after the release of the band's last recording in 2005, Black Panther is back with Li, drummer Zhao Mingyi, bassist Wang Wenjie, keyboardist Hui Peng and a new frontman Zhang Dapeng.

The band also returns to a musical landscape that has been changed enormously by economics and technology.

Despite the pressures of the past, Li says the year 2012 is a lucky year because they signed a contract with a new record company and felt it was the right time to make a return.

All the members except for the new lead singer were with the band more than a decade ago. When they reunited, everything went into double-time.

To help get them back in their groove, the band members turned to Phil Nicolo, the Grammy-winning US music producer, and American electric violinist Jamii Szmadzinski.

"Black Panther has a great sense of melody and a sense of real rock routes," says Nicolo, whose rock credits include Billy Joel's Life of Dreams, the Rolling Stones' Love Is Strong, and Aerosmith's Falling in Love.

"I've cooperated with many rock bands and Black Panther threw me back to the old rock energy, which is very exciting," he says.

"People had asked me before how far Chinese rock music is from a Grammy award. And now I can say it's closer," says Nicolo, who is one of the judges of the Grammy awards. He reveals he has been negotiating with some Chinese organizations for a local awards program to be branded by Grammy.

Sparks of genius	She brings relics to life