Rock legends Deep Purple have been devastated by the alleged betrayal of one of their closest and longest-serving advisers, who has been accused of siphoning off up to £4 million in royalties, reports The Times.

Vocalist Ian Gillan, bassist Roger Glover, and drummer Ian Paice, plus the estate of Jon Lord, the keyboard player who died in 2012, have sued Dipak Shanker Rao, their accountant, over the handling of their financial affairs. The case at the High Court threatens to cast a shadow over the launch of the band’s new studio album, inFinite, and the tour, which reaches Britain in November.

Deep Purple have sold more than 100 million records. Financial irregularities at two companies that control the rights to many of Deep Purple’s hits have been uncovered after Ritchie Blackmore, 71, an original member, demanded £700,000 in allegedly unpaid royalties.

Read the full story at thetimes.co.uk.

Deep Purple will release their new album, inFinite, the highly anticipated follow-up to their worldwide chart topping album NOW What?!, on April 7th via earMUSIC. According to Darker Than Blue, inFinite will be available in the following formats:

* CD
* CD + DVD
* Double Vinyl + DVD
* Small Fan Box
* Large Fan Box

The Large Fan Box is expected to include the 2LP, CD, DVD, plus three 10″ singles and a t-shirt.

Also, the first single, “Time For Bedlam” will include the following tracklisting:

“Time For Bedlam”
“Paradise Bar”
“Uncommon Man” (instrumental)
“Hip Boots” (Ian Paice rehearsal version)

The track “Time For Bedlam” (lyric video below) is available as instant grat as part of the digital album pre-order, as well as on all streaming platforms. A limited edition EP for “Time For Bedlam”, with non-album songs and unreleased recordings will hit the shops on February 3rd.

“Time For Bedlam” lyric video:

A documentary movie, witnessing the songwriting process and the recording of the album with producer Bob Ezrin, has been produced, allowing for the first time for the fans to be part of the private band member interactions in the studio. The movie will be included in some editions of the album and it will be presented before release in various fan events worldwide.

Deep Purple recently announced their Long Goodbye Tour, which will bring the legendary live show once again all over the world. The band have not yet answered, in fact, the many questions received by fans from all over the world who are speculating about the meaning of the title inFinite and "Long Goodbye".

Singer Ian Gillan has in fact declared: “If you take it literally you may, quite reasonably, think the ‘Finite’ part of the word describes the life of Deep Purple, with a clear beginning and a nebulous end; but what of the ‘in’ bit? The word infinite is a three-dimensional double edged sword. It describes something that goes on forever in all directions; not unlike its temporal equivalent ‘Eternal’ What’s that all about?

“Stephen Hawking declared (in A brief History Of Time) that, before the Big Bang there was nothing. That would put the kybosh on the idea of our universe being Infinite, as he provides a starting point, which is not acceptable to the concept. So, Hawking’s universe in ‘Finite’; by definition; whether he agrees or not.

“Ironically, he is quite wrong (scientists always are eventually), therefore the Universe is infinite, which means it will never end, and also means that it never started, and the corollary to that of course is that we don’t exist.

“There is a metaphysical solution to all this, but it will have to wait until the tour is over because (thanks heavens) there are only 24 hours in a day (for the time being) or 10 hours in a metric day. More on that later…”

inFinite trailer clips:

Tour dates:

May
17 - Wien, Austria - Stadthalle Halle D
19 - München, Germany - Olympiahalle
23 - Lodz, Poland - Atlas Arena
24 - Katowice, Poland - Spodek
30 - Hamburg, Germany - Barclaycard-Arena

June
1 - Lille, France - Zenith Arena
2 - Amsterdam, Holland - Ziggodome
3 - Paris, France - Accorhotels Arena
6 - Köln, Germany - Lanxess Arena
7 - Dortmund, Germany - Westfalenhalle
9 - Leipzig, Germany - Arena Leipzig
10 - Frankfurt/Main, Germany - Festhalle
13 - Berlin, Germany - Mercedes-Benz-Arena
14 - Stuttgart, Germany - Schleyer-Halle
16-18 - Clisson, France - HellFest (exact date TBC)

July
1 - Barcelona, Spain - Rock Fest

November (with Europe)
17 - Birmingham, England - Birmingham Arena
18 - Manchester, England - Manchester Arena
20 - Cardiff, Wales - Cardiff Arena
22 - Glasgow, Scotland - SSE Hydro
23 - London, England - 02 Arena