With their new album, Rize of the Fenix, the duo who call themselves Tenacious D are making a comeback of sorts – after their last film and recording project Pick of Destiny was a critical and financial bomb.

Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who first started playing together in comedy clubs 18 years ago, say they never considered abandoning music.

Both are actors – Black is known for roles in School of Rock and Kung Fu Panda, Gass had minor parts in High Road and The Jake Effect. After six years since Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny, they headed back into the studio with a new set of songs they wrote themselves.

Their songs include Rock is Dead and Rize of the Fenix , a track that explains how they were due for a comeback.

“I don’t think of us as a comedy band or what do they call us — ‘mock-rock.’ I think of us more along the lines of a really great rock band that happens to be funny,” Gass said in an interview with Jian Ghomeshi, host of CBC’s Q cultural affairs show.

Part of their act is their delusion of rock greatness, with Black repeatedly asserting their status as the greatest act on earth. He jokingly calls Tenacious D “the clown princes of rock” and discusses why a comeback album is inherently funny.

Yet Rize of the Fenix has had recognition as a strong rock album, with mainstream appeal.

Both actor-singers play acoustic guitar and they’ve lined up a band to tour with them throughout the summer. They play Detroit on Friday before going on to dates throughout the U.S..