Irish folk metal band CRUACHAN will enter the studio on January 17 to begin recording their fifth album, tentatively due later in the year via Greece's Black Lotus Records. "We are returning to Sun Studios in Dublin, where we recorded 'Tuatha Na Gael', 'The Middle Kingdom' and 'Folklore'," the band write on their web site. "The studio has been hugely upgraded since we were last there. We are also pulling out all the stops and getting a well respected producer flown in from Holland. Jo Peeters (a.k.a. GAIL OF GOD) will be doing the production work for us."

CRUACHAN's upcoming album will be their first CD for Black Lotus, with whom they inked a deal in June 2005. The band's final release for their previous label, Karmageddon Media, was scheduled to be a reissue of their 1994 "Celtica" demo, featuring unreleased tracks, including "Timmy", which has been performed live at quite a few CRUACHAN shows.

CRUACHAN's fourth full-length album, "Pagan", was recorded and mixed at Radio Na Life Studios in Dublin, Ireland with producer Al Cowen and is the follow-up to 2002's "Folk-Lore". The cover artwork for "Pagan" was created by John Howe, the leading JRR Tolkien illustrator and the conceptual artist from the "Lord of the Rings" movies.