Finnish metallers MORIAN have issued the following update:

"First of all, apologies for the lack of updates; big things have happened this year and we have decided not to give out any news until certain things have reached their closure.

Well, that moment has come now, so sit back and read what's going on in the world of Morian. Quoting Mark Twain: 'The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated!'

But to the point.

Ashen Empire is now completely recorded and mixed, and it's waiting to be mastered! The album is produced and engineered by Aksu Hanttu, best known as the drummer of Finnish gothic metal pioneers ENTWINE. Mr. Hanttu is gracing the new Morian album with bolder, bigger and grittier sounds then ever; his previous producing efforts include POISONBLACK and KORPIKLAANI, among many others.

To add some grandeur to the already massive soundscape of Ashen Empire, the album also features excellent orchestrations of Sami Boman from SILENTIUM.

Have we gone too far? Is the album going to be too massive and epic? Well it better be, god damned, it's been in the making for three fucking years. But worry not, we're not going to reinvent the wheel; the album consists of familiar raunchy guitar riffs and killer melodies that are the trademark of Morian.

Do we have any bad news, then? Well, yes and no. Unfortunately, the budget grew so high that Dynamic Arts Records was forced to drop out of the game. After long and fruitless negotiations, we decided to break the recording deal and continue without them; the album needed to be done our way, without doing any compromises with the quality of the production. So this is what we did: we dug out a shitload of cash from various sources and finished the album with external funding. Presto!

This means that we'll soon have a finished record in our hands that's waiting for a record label to publish it. We're currently searching for a new publisher, and no final deals have been made yet, so pass the word around; the best Finnish rock/metal album in ages is still waiting for the best offer.

Well, that about sums it for this time - sorry for this long-winded piece of news, but after all, we had some catching-up to do.

We'll keep you posted about the release dates when we have more information about the upcoming publisher of the album.

Stay tuned and brace yourself for the best Morian tunes ever, dear friends; after three long years, the album is finally finished.

Morian is rising from the ashes."