Irish folk metallers WAYLANDER have issued the following update:

"We've played a handful of shows where Hugh (O'Neill, guitarist) cemented his place in the clan, which to us, was a huge positive.

Our friends WOLFCHANT came over in May and we played the Dublin show with them and we were pleased with the crowd reaction. Luckily the Belfast show for Wolfchant was saved and for a Sunday we had a great crowd in to watch them. It was great to have a beer and some craic with our Bavarian brothers.

The summer was quiet for us on the gig front so we took the opportunity to begin the writing process for another album. We have a start made on three songs and intend getting stuck in properly fairly soon. Some tentative song titles at this early stage are: 'Twin Fires Of Bealtaine', 'Kindred Spirits' and 'Sacred Centre'.

Unfortunately due to family responsibilties, we have had to cancel our show at Metalfest in Dudley, England on September 25th. Apologies to anyone who were looking forward to seeing us at this festival. I would ask those in the midlands area who wish to see us to attend Gathering of the Clans in Coalville, Leicestershire on October 17th. As I've stated previously it's got one of the best atmospheres of any festival I've been to so a great day is guaranteed with many great bands playing from early afternoon onwards. Tickets are limited so grab them asap.

We celebrated Lughnasadh this year by playing at the first edition of the Heathen Firefest in Edinburgh, Scotland. We didn't know what to expect but a great crowd turned up and seemed to enjoy all proceedings which began with an opening ceremony performed by Wiccan High Priestess,

Lydia Gilligan which set the tone for the evening. All the bands played well, Ravenage, Northern Oak and Annwn and we fully enjoyed our set and the crowd's participation. Thanks to Matt for a well organised event which can only grow in stature.

Summerbreeze in Germany was quite possibly the biggest show of our career to date. We played on the Saturday in the party tent and it was rammed full of people. We spotted an Irish flag and even someone in an Armagh jersey! We got an amazing reaction with the crowd singing along to many of our songs. We could get used to playing gigs of this stature!

We are just back from a splendid weekend in Italy as guests of the Brintaal celtic folk festival in Valstagna. The scenery was stunning, with the mountains and the river running through the town giving it an almost otherworldly feel.

There was a spectacular storm which lasted for several hours on Saturday afternoon and although it was great to watch, it put our performance in doubt for a short time as the torrential rain was causing some problems. In the end we played to a very enthusiastic Italian crowd who made our set a joy to perform.

It was a novel experience to get mobbed for autographs and photos as soon as we came off stage but it wasn't too stressful as we found the Italian people to be extremely friendly and we partied with them until the small hours. Many thanks to Saul and all the organisers for hosting one of our favourite weekends of our career.

Apologies for the delay on the Honour Amongst Chaos shirts. In all honesty we simply have cash flow problems but when this is remedied we will get some printed.

We have a few more concerts confirmed for the rest of the year. On October 16th we will be back in Germany to play at Fimbul Festival in Furth and the next day we will appear at the previously mentioned, Gathering of the Clans Festival in Coalville, Leicestershire in England. We will also be appearing at Hard Rock Hell in Prestatyn, Wales on the first weekend of December as well as Winterfest in Cork, Ireland on December 19th. We will confirm which day we play on soon.

So, as you can see we haven't been idle and look forward to the new songs and the live adventures to come."