Soundgarden rockers Chris Cornell and Kim Thayil have dismissed long-standing myths that drugs and drink led to the group's 1997 split, insisting the bandmates had simply grown tired of the grind of touring and recording together.

The grunge godfathers reunited to work on new material in 2009 and have just released a new album, King Animal - and they're now addressing all the rumours about their break-up and what brought the band back together.

Thayil tells Revolver magazine, "I've read all kinds of things in the past few years that substance abuse was the problem... That wasn't our thing.

"You could see that people were getting a bit stressed. I don't think it was with each other, as much as it was just burn-out and fatigue from collectively having to attend something that is emotionally draining, that requires your personal attention and investment."

And Cornell clears up rumours surrounding what brought the group back together: "We reunited as a partnership concern regarding our legacy: 'Hey man, we don't have a website!'"

Thayil adds, "Friends of ours have kids who are in junior high and high school and learning instruments, and these friends were asking us, 'Why can't we find your T-shirts when we go to the store...?' There was no one minding the store."

However, Cornell insists there's no guarantee the band will be around to record another album: "Whatever problems we had before... we probably all still have. Just maybe over the course of a few years, we've come to understand how to deal with those things a little better, but they're all still there.

"Nobody showed up with a (self-help guru and spiritual guide) Deepak Chopra book in their backpack."