What happens when a highlight South African Gothic Rock act from Johannesburg moves to the U.S. and merges with a talented underground Goth/Industrial act from Decatur Illinois? A beautiful mix of ethereal dark romantic music to make angels and vampires alike weep for wanting. The Awakening originally began as a festival headlining Goth act pioneering vocally dripping lilting dark rock in an environment that initially wasn’t open to the genre. Through hard work and sacrifice Ashton Nyte and Rose Mortem built a name for themselves as a music sensation.
The 8th studio album , 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 is also 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