In November 2008, the band announced that they would begin working on their new studio album in 2009, and that the Heart Of Everything Tour was drawing to an end.'[26] On June 1, 2009, it was announced that Sharon had given birth to a boy, her second child with Robert Westerholt. In 2010, the band embarked on a second Theatre Tour, their last with drummer Stephen Van Haestregt.[12]

In the meantime, the band continued work on their new studio album. In an interview with Metal Ways at Appelpop 2008, guitarist Robert Westerholt stated that the new album was "probably going to be kind of a concept, but it’s so early still that nothing is really sure yet. But we’re trying to look in that direction."[27]

On November 18, 2010, the band announced via their website that their new album, entitled "The Unforgiving" will be released in March 2011.[dated info] The concept of the album will be based on a comic book series, written by Steven O’Connell (BloodRayne & Dark 48), and illustrated by Romano Molenaar (Witchblade, Darkness and X-Men). Each song on “The Unforgiving” was written along Steven’s narrative, with characters in the songs reflecting the protagonists of the comic. On July 26, 2010, the band announced that they would be embarking on a European tour at the beginning of 2011 in support of their new release. However, on November 26, 2010, it was announced that due to Sharon's third pregnancy, the tour dates would be moved from early 2011 to fall 2011.[28]

On the official website, Sharon shared that they have recorded three music videos for the album within the course of a week.[29]

On 13 December 2010 the band announced the title of a new preview song of the album. 'Where Is The Edge' was released on 15 December 2010, along with a music video featuring scenes from the upcoming movie Me & Mr Jones. The first new single, "Faster," was released January 21 and the video for the song was released January 31, 2011. The track is currently being played in heavy rotation (at least once in each show) on UK classic rock station Planet Rock