MOONSPELL guitarist Ricardo Amorim has checked in with the following update:

"The great artist Tomi Korkalainen is back with my second Amfisound custom guitar. I am positive that this 'cadillac' will be a blast. Thank you Tomi for you talent and kind words."

Following is Korkalainen's update on the construction of the guitar:

"Hi Everybody! We are happy to unveil the building process of a new custom guitar for Ricardo Amorim, the guitarist of the legendary Portuguese band Moonspell. His guitar will once again be dressed and shaped with special options. It is a Halti model, an original Amfisound design which we developed to set a completely new standard for the modern rock guitar.

Just like Ricardo's first Amfisound guitar, which we built in 2008, this one was born out of the discussions we had with him about the details and image he envisioned for it. Once again I want to say that Moonspell is one of those bands which have always had a place in my heart, so I feel very honored to have had the possibility to build a Custom Amfisound for this great artist and to work together with Ricardo and get to know him.

The first part of the building process will mainly include the basic work, such as choosing and shaping woods and inlays, gluing them together, and so on - things which may be basic but, in a way, also most important, because they lay the foundation for shaping the sound, playability, and balance of this guitar. Later, you will see the exciting part of how the guitar really gets its personality and see some special, individual images based on Ricardo's wishes."

Check out the first steps of construction of the guitar here.

Moonspell recently signed a worldwide recording deal with Napalm Records, who will release their new dual album, Alpha Noir/Omega White on April 27th.

Alpha Noir will be available in a strictly limited edition deluxe box set, containing the limited-edition double album mediabook, including two album covers, and Alpha Noir's counterpart, Omega White, and an exclusive Moonspell logo pendant. First orders will receive a free exclusive poster. Orders can be placed at this location.

Alpha Noir deluxe box set tracklisting:

CD 1:

'Axis Mundi'

'Lickanthrope'

'Versus'

'Alpha Noir'

'En Nome Do Medo'

'Opera Carne'

'Love is Blasphemy'

'Grand Stand'

'Sine Missione'

CD 2:

'White Omega'

'White Skies'

'Fireseason'

'New Tears Eve'

'Herodisiac'

'Incantatrix'

'Sacrificial'

'A Greater Darkness'

According to a recent band update, 'Lickanthrope' will be the first video clip to come out of the Alpha Noir album. It will be directed by Filipe Melo, who worked with the band on the 'I Will See You In My Dreams' video clip, film ten years ago. The shoot will occur in Nandufe, Tondela, in the central region of Portugal.

The synopsis by the director, Filipe Melo: "Little red riding hood enters a bar,in an abandoned house amidst the woods. In this bar, the regulars are not your average kind of people- it's a place of vice, where a pack of wolves and other unearthly creatures find solace. Moonspell are just another part of the varied local entertainment. However when things go wild we will see that the band isn't just what meets the eye. In a cross between the pagan Portuguese folklore and a tribute to the classic Hammer movies this videoclip will bring out not only the ferocious intensity of this song but will have its place in Portuguese Film history as the first werewolf transformation ever made in Portugal. The video clip features also several local Theatre and cultural groups, Portuguese actors and a special appearance by the very own Suicide Girls Portugal, in a task force which will blow your mind. Beware the wolves at night, beware the lunar light!"

Frontman Fernando Ribeiro reveals new album details below:

"A true band has to have to a glorious past, a solid present and a bright future. More than that, a true band has to know how to live throughout all these seasons, dealing with their ghosts, their shadows, their aim at the light, moulding darkness with personality, with the impulse to be better, to do better while getting close to theirselves. Their true heart, soul and flesh.

Never a Moonspell album came so close to be absolute like the new opus magna (masterpiece) Alpha Noir, scheduled to be proudly released by Napalm Records on April 27th, when spring racks through the wastes of winter, bursting new colours over familiar sights, once silent and white, now fiery under the blackest of suns.

The concept of this new record, painstakingly composed by the Portuguese gothic metal knights over the past three years, after the public and critically acclaimed Night Eternal, is bulletproof. The band managed to split their heart and soul in half and the result is that they came even closer to themselves, the ambitious band they always were, with a undying wish not to claim any throne but to build their own ships that would take them and their fans to 'give new worlds to the world,' like in the age of discovery where the Portuguese were a leading force in the world.

With their country drowned in a corrosive crisis, Moonspell filled their lungs with pride and created an incendiary album, with nine outbursts of their rockiest and thrashier riffs made superiorly dimensioned by the reindivictative lyrical content and songs structure that take you by storm from the first listen on. Moonspell has tapped a notch into their energy filled gothic metal by adding a guitar wall forjed by timeless artists like BATHORY, KING DIAMOND or in a twist ofthe knive to old thrash metal legends like ONSLAUGHT, METALLICA early works or even TESTAMENT and ARTILLERY, making Alpha Noir a truly surpring and fresh record where all the songs have a climax effect about them, an high tension charm that will for sure electricize audiences when played on a stage.

Songs like the title track ('Alpha Noir'), the infectious 'Versus', the wolf hymn 'Lickanthrope' or the Portuguese sung 'Em nome do Medo' (In the name of fear) and the closing epic 'Grandstand', might get you a welcoming chilling of the past but make no mistake: Alpha Noir is a leap of faith and belief in their writing skills and progressive musicianship.

Together with Alpha Noir packed in a deluxe and special edition on digipack, Moonspell and Napalm offers no live DVD, making of or any kind of filler. Instead they put in the table another offerend: Ómega White, the musical twin of Alpha Noir, a collection of eight songs of pure atmosphere and shadow, close to their breakthrough album Irreligious, in a just homage to their Type O Negative and Sisters of Mercy roots. Tracks like the erotic 'Herodisiac', the catchy 'White Skies' or the heartbreaking 'Whiteomega' will for sure keep you in dark company through a night of fear and loss, both soothing and provoking.

Both masterpieces were produced and mixed by Tue Madsen, pre-produced by Benny Richter. Each song a jewel, each song a stronghold!

Keep your watch and do not miss this new Moonspell record, for it is a true mortal sin to stay away from these eighty minutes of music, beautifully and violently craved by one of the most legendary and imaginative bands ever to surface the European scene. Do not forget to get your hands on this masterpiece and to watch the band live in the Summer Festivals around Europe. Alpha Noir/Omega White will also be played in their entirety in Lisbon's Campo Pequeno, that holds 5,000 fans, in their homeland Portugal in the most daring stage set and visuals the band has ever tried."