The Awakening's eighth full-length studio album released June 2009, Tales is described as "a return to Zeen/Dark Romantics-era classic gothic rock." The album represents the longest lapse between releases, a full three years having passed since the band's previous release, Razor Burn. It was the first of the band's albums to be cross-continentally written and recorded, as the band has been based in the United States since late 2007 but recorded various tracks from Tales in both South Africa and the USA. It is also the first of the band's albums to include Rose Mortem on piano and keyboards.