Finnish metallers AMORAL have issued the following update from guitarist Ben Varon:

"The last Amoral show of 2010 at On the Rocks, Helsinki was a blast, thanks to all of you who attended, especially you who travelled from other countries to be there! It was fun trying out some new songs on you people. Special thanks to Juhani Flinck from DEAD SHAPE FIGURE, who filled in for Wally in a week's notice! Mad props!

Other than that, the writing and fine-tuning of the new material has been getting along good. We have about 13 songs written as of now, and still more keep popping up. It looks like we'll be heading to the studio in April/May, with a possible late 2011 release. Yes, it's a bitch of a wait, we know, but we promise it's gonna be worth it! We'll try to post some more demo session/rehearshal footage as we go along, to give you guys an idea of where we are at.

As for the new stuff: like I said, we already have more than an album's worth of material, so we're gonna have a lot to choose from by the time we hit the studio. The material is all over the place style-wise, from the chillest acoustic stuff to fast death metal, with lots of solid hard rockin' metal in between. So expect versatility!

Some of you have noticed that the Amoral boys have some other projects on the side: Ari (Koivunen, vocals) is at the moment touring with Raskasta Joulua ("Heavy Christmas"), Juffi is active with his other band SHEAR, and I have some side activities as well (Dimebag Beyond Forever tour 2010, GREASE HELMET).

Me, Peksi and Juffi are also part of TORNADO, a thrash-oriented group our friend/tour manager Joey Severance has been meaning to launch for years. But rest assured, these projects will NOT slow Amoral down, or affect our recording and touring plans in any way. It's merely a good thing that everyone keeps themselves busy and in shape at all times, instead of sitting at home watching tv, waiting for new songs to drop in their email boxes... ;)

So... Have yourselves a rocking little Christmas and a great new year! For more frequent little updates on what's going on, remember to follow us on Twitter. And the Amoral Forum is alive and well, with all the band members participating in the discussion and checking it often, so join in!"