Named after William S. Burroughs' book of short stories Interzone and the band's interest in eastern mysticism and esoteric philosophies,[2] the songwriting on The Interzone Mantras builds on the subtle electronica and ballads of Triptych, whilst returning to the familiar territory of their earlier albums with 1970s rock and world music influences.

[1] Jeff Martin explained that the album was a return to basics: "The last two records, Transmission and Triptych, were very much creations of the studio - meticulously built.

The new approach fired the band up to such an extent that the album was recorded in just twenty days - "unheard of" for The Tea Party, Martin says.

[2]Lyrically the album draws from the works of modern writers Aleister Crowley, Mikhail Bulgakov, Wim Wenders, to ancient Greek mythology (Morpheus on "Lullaby").

The first 100,000 Canadian copies of the album were packaged with a special lenticular cover, with Alessandro Bavari's depiction of Shiva moving depending on the viewing angle.