AVANTASIA vocalist Amanda Somerville has issued Part 8 in her series of video blogs from the band's current world tour. Check it out below.

Avantasia's Tobias Sammet recently issued the following update:

"Rumors keep circulating about a forthcoming Avantasia Live-DVD and now we can confirm they are true! Early next year a double-DVD and 2-CD set will be out on Nuclear Blast Records (in Japan and East-Asia on Avalon-Marquee).

The DVD is a documentary of the legendary 2008 world tour of Avantasia, when the band hit the road for the first time to write a new chapter in metal history; traveling around the world with a giant all-star ensemble to bring the Metal Opera on stage and play on three continents within a few days, crossing the dateline and eventually playing to a total of 400,000 people within only a few weeks.

The first DVD contains a live concert with a running time of almost two hours featuring footage filmed at the headlining shows of Wacken Open Air (Germany) and Masters Of Rock (Czech Republic). On the second DVD there will be a movie, Around The World In 20 Days, that gives fans the opportunity to join Avantasia backstage and take a look at the surroundings and the thrill behind the scenes that go along with an extensive undertaking such as this. The DVD-set will portray Avantasia 2008 when it all started.

Tobias says: "I am so proud of this DVD package and the featured footage, even though it took a little longer to finally complete it. It gives people an idea of what an impact the first appearance of Avantasia on stage had, and you will get an idea of how everything went beyond our expectations and what the roots and the seeds for the current Avantasia tour are. It portrays one year in Avantasia's history, maybe the most important year in the project's history because that is when a studio-project became a traveling institution. There are many Metal Operas, but we made it something real, something to take hold of. Something alive..."

The finishing touches are being put on the mastering right now, so the DVD will be out in February. It will be available as a double 2-DVD, a double live CD, and a boxset featuring both.

Further updates to follow.