It's a beautiful Friday afternoon in late August, but the mood in New York is somber. A few weeks before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the city is bracing for another possible catastrophe: Hurricane Irene is approaching-a Category 3 storm that could wreak massive devastation on the Big Apple.

On the streets, New Yorkers lament living in a mandatory evacuation zone and wonder how they'll get around once the subway shuts down. Amy Lee, who lives in Manhattan with her husband (he's out scavenging sandbags), is hoping her kitchen doesn't flood. Or her basement, where her stage clothes are stored. "We're pulling them up today and getting them out of there in case [it gets] full of water," she says.

DON'T MISS IT: Evanescence Live Q&A TODAY @ 4pm ET

Lee's fans would've been just as upset if her dresses had gotten waterlogged. The impending arrival of her band's third, self-titled album, Evanescence, is ending a five-year hiatus of new music since the band released The Open Door, which has sold 2.1 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and moved another 2 million internationally, according to Wind-up senior VP of marketing and sales Bill Richards. Lee, guitarists Terry Balsamo and Troy McLawhorn, bassist Tim McCord and drummer Will Hunt kicked off a two-month tour on Oct. 2 as a Rock in Rio festival co-headliner, followed by an Oct. 6 date in San Juan, Puerto Rico, with more shows this month in the United States and November shows in Europe. So, no, this wouldn't be a good time to lose her stage gear. "Just remembering what's important -- the show -- at the end of the day," she says with a laugh.

It's been eight years since the band's major-label debut, Fallen, broke with the 2003 hit "Bring Me to Life," selling more than 7 million copies in the United States, according to SoundScan, and another 8 million copies internationally, according to Wind-up. Much time has passed, but little has changed in terms of women's presence on Billboard's rock charts: The Donnas were the only female-centric act on those lists when "Life" introduced Evanescence's melodic, hard-rocking sound and dark, passionate lyrics anchored by Lee's soaring vocals; Paramore and Flyleaf are the only female-fronted bands to have made a consistent rock radio chart impact since Evanescence's arrival.

Wind-up Entertainment president/CEO Ed Vetri recalls one radio PD's reaction when the label was pushing "Life" to the airwaves: "'We don't play pianos and chicks on rock radio.' That was the quote."

Thanks to its inclusion in the movie "Daredevil," listeners demanded that radio play the song, launching Evanescence to stardom. "Life" reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100, followed by the No. 7-peaking ballad "My Immortal."

Evanescence now has the advantage of being an established act, but times are tough for rock. Avenues of exposure are diminished: Few magazines or video outlets remain dedicated to the genre, with rock webzines and touring picking up the slack for crucial exposure. Rock radio panels have also shrunk; this week in 2003 (Oct. 24), 90 stations reported to Billboard's Alternative chart and 106 to Mainstream Rock. Eight years later, the panel sizes are down to 54 and 75, respectively.

Though The Open Door's lead single, "Call Me When You're Sober," reached No. 25 on the Hot 100, subsequent tracks didn't cross over. While Fallen was a highly polished, hook-filled affair, Door was a far more nuanced, moody and richly textured effort. The latter album debuted at No. 1 the week of Oct. 21, 2006, with sales of 447,000, according to SoundScan. And though the follow-up singles "Lithium" and "Sweet Sacrifice" cracked the top 40 at rock radio, neither dented the Hot 100. Richards attributes the reduced airplay to Door not having "the hard rock [tracks] to solidify the base, and it wasn't melodic and poppy enough with big hooks to go to pop . . . and you know how finicky radio can be."

Nonetheless, Wind-up has enough faith in demand for Evanescence that radio remains a core part of the album campaign. A major indicator that fans are impatiently waiting is the band's Facebook page, which Richards says jumped from 7 million likes at the beginning of the year to more than 10 million before Wind-up had even sent lead single "What You Want" to radio in August. (The band now has more than 11 million likes.) The track is making headway: It reached No. 68 on the Hot 100 and is steadily climbing the rock charts toward the top 10.

Although pop music is dominated by women whose wildly elaborate and sexual costuming is as crucial to their success as their mass-appeal dance music-and Lee is a rocker whose gothic-inspired garb stands no threat of a wardrobe malfunction-Wind-up sees a chance for the band at top 40. "She has the appeal of a strong female demographic, which is pop radio," Vetri says.

Wind-up executive VP of promotion Shanna Fischer adds, "We have had a handful of stations ready to spike [the single]. Pop radio was definitely interested in hearing new Evanescence."

NEXT PAGE: CHANGES IN THE LINEUP