Guitarist/vocalist Helmuth Lehner of the Austrian blackened death metal outfit BELPHEGOR, who underwent "a serious and difficult" operation last October, is still not fully recovered and will therefore be unable to handle lead vocals at the band's upcoming Extremefest appearances. Filling in for him until he is "able to do the vocals again and give 100 percent" wil be the band's former bassist, Bartholomäus "Barth" Resch, who is described by Helmuth as "our man behind the curtain since 1998." Helmuth adds, "[Barth] knows exactly how we roll."

Extremefest dates are as follows:

July 5-7 - Hünxe, Germany - ExtremeFest Germany
July 5-7 - St. Pölten, Austria - ExtremeFest Austria
July 5-7 - Z7 - Pratteln, Switzerland - ExtremeFest Switzerland

BELPHEGOR entered Mana Recording Studios in St. Petersburg, Florida with producer Erik Rutan (HATE ETERNAL, MORBID ANGEL, CANNIBAL CORPSE) to begin laying down its as-yet-untitled new CD for a March 2013 release via Nuclear Blast Records. The recording sessions and the mixing/mastering process will be completed by mid-October.

Rutan previously stated about the upcoming CD: "I am very excited to be recording and mixing the new BELPHEGOR album at Mana. After many discussions with Helmuth and hearing some clips of new material, I know that the band is very focused and determined on making a harmoniously evil extreme masterpiece. We shall make one beast of an album that the fans have come to expect from BELPHEGOR!"

BELPHEGOR's last album, "Blood Magick Necromance", was released in January 2011 in Europe and February 2011 in the U.S. via Nuclear Blast Records. The album was produced by Peter Tägtgren (IMMORTAL, CELTIC FROST, HYPOCRISY, DIMMU BORGIR) at his Abyss Studios in Pärlby, Sweden and mastered by Jonas Kjellgren.