"The Asgard Saga", the world premiere of the fantasy collaboration between MANOWAR and Wolfgang Hohlbein, will begin at Magic Circle Festival III, scheduled to take place at the Loreley on the Rhine River in Germany on July 18, 2009. Headlining the festival, MANOWAR will perform material from the concept album currently in the works. It is based on Hohlbein's tales of one of the most iconic characters in Norse mythology, Thor, the God of Thunder. Hohlbein will debut the captivating fantasy adventure that is promised to be full of action, drama, romance, passion and conflict. It is a modern spin on the classic tale interpreted via the media of our time: the internet, interactive web communities, books, music, video games and beyond. The first phase of this concept launched worldwide last week at www.asgard-saga.com.

"During the creative process, the band and I soon realized the full potential of this enterprise," Wolfgang Hohlbein said. "It was almost like the characters took over and showed us the way!" He added, "Norse mythology is so rich with characters and stories that we decided to create a whole universe." MANOWAR bassist Joey DeMaio explained, "We felt an online platform would be the perfect tool to complement our works, offering unlimited space to tell further stories. That is where ideas really started to fly! We decided that the fans should become part of the creative team! So we developed an interactive website where they can contribute on many levels. At www.asgard-saga.com anyone can participate in every phase of the project from submitting anything from stories to songs. Fans and artists can create a fantasy adventure like none before!"

The world premiere of "The Asgard Saga" can only be witnessed at Magic Circle Festival III. A full line up of bands is also scheduled to perform. Multiple activities on the eve of the festival will offer fans the opportunity to learn more about "The Asgard Saga" — a project of vast dimensions!

Magic Circle Festival festival billing is shaping up as follows:

AGE OF EVIL
CRYSTAL VIPER
DIE SKLAVEN
DOMAIN
HEAT SEEKERS
HOLYHELL
JACK STARR'S BURNING STARR
KINGDOM COME
MANOWAR
METALFORCE
ULYTAU
VAN CANTO
WIZARD

Video footage of MANOWAR in the studio at Magic Circle Music mixing new material from the album that will be performed exclusively at the Magic Circle Festival can be viewed below.