In yet another auspicious use of the date "08-08-08" (with the Beijing Olympics obviously being one of them), Basti Artadi slyly dropped another a bomb among Wolfgang fans by posting yet another intriguing graphic on his social networking profile pages. Over a stark black background, were the words "Wolfgang VILLAINS - Dec 2008."

Luckily for us, sharp-eyed Wolfgang and Razorback booster Aleck Pulido noticed the graphic - posted on Basti's Friendster and MySpace profiles - and notified all and sundry about it on her Multiply page , as well as the still living and barely breathing Wolfmusic mailing list. So props to you, Aleck!

Prior to this, Basti Artadi had dropped an earlier graphic simply saying "Wolfgang VI".

Now this is the part where the average, non-Wolfgang listening Juan on the street starts asking "Huh?"

For the uninitiated, it simply means that Basti has been dropping broad hints about what will be the sixth Wolfgang studio album. And unless he's messing with our heads, the album will be called "Villains".

There's no word yet on whether this will be a major label release or if the band will go the independent distribution route for this one.

How the band managed to record this is a feat in itself, probably worth retelling. As far as the Wolfgang timeline goes, the band pressed "pause" on itself when the members went their separate ways shortly after the release of their last studio album "Black Mantra" way back in August 2001.

Basti went off to the San Francisco Bay Area. Drummer Wolf Gemora went off to L.A. and founded the band Lokomotiv. Bassist Mon Legaspi joined The Dawn and later quit that band and moved to Hong Kong. And guitarist Manuel Legarda stayed in Manila, working for advertising supplier and auio production powerhouse Hit Productions, as well as playing for DRT and Razorback.

Photo: Manuel Legarda during "Alive 2007"

Despite the chain of events, Basti Artadi maintains the band never broke up.

"Wolfang never did break up," he noted in a downloadable audio interview posted on Yahoo Mobile. "It was not something where we were like, 'alright guys that's it - we've done all we can, it's time to shut the door and move on.' It was just circumstances that worked out in such a way that we went our diferent paths. But we always left the door open that if ever the opportunity arose that we could get some work together, then sure why not?"

The second event was a double bill featuring a reunited Wolfgang (sans Wolf Gemora - who says he was busy at the time doing Lokomotiv promotional gigs in the Philippines) teaming up with the present Razorback lineup.

The concert was promoted as "Alive 2007" and was a smashing sold-out success, played on two successive Fridays at the Music Museum in March 2007. The gigs were also recorded to video with the intent of releasing them on DVD - though as of this writing the video has yet to be commercially released.

The 2007 reunion gigs spawned a few studio recordings and plans for a new album.

A few album demos for new songs "Deathsquad," "Diaspora," "Enemy," and "John of the Cross" were recorded. "Deathsquad" was even aired on NU107 and topped the radio charts for a while.

The albums were recorded whenever the opportunity arose, with tracks being shuttled back and forth among the members via the Internet.

"We've had difficulty booking a studio to work in," Legarda was quoted as saying in 2007. "But fortunately there is the Internet and we trade a lot of files over the net."

"We'll be doing more vocals when Basti comes back, and since we don't tour anymore, there is a lot more time to work on this album," Legarda continued. "We have a number of songs that lack vocals and arrangements, but I am happy that we'll finish this and hopefully you'll hear some of it on the radio soon."

Basti did note in his post reunion interviews that the reunion gigs made them realize that even after being apart for so long, getting together could still yield something "new and fresh."

"It just so happened that with my going back in December, the door opened," he observed. "And it was a big door and a good door. So we started putting our heads together and writing some new material."

"Who knows, if the opportunity arises and we do put this thing together and everything works out and we tour, why not? I'd love to tour again."

At the very least, images of Basti can still be seen in the Philippines on commercials and billboards (Red Horse, Jag jeans) where he has found a curious second life as a "rock star turned commercial model". Maybe it's all intentional - a strategy that should keep him in the public eye, a perfect backdrop for a December 2008 album release.

Video: The 2007 Red Horse TV Commercial featuring rock frontmen Basti Artadi, Ely Buendia, Karl Roy, Marc Abaya, and Pepe Smith.