WITHIN TEMPTATION - The Heart Of Everything
April 18, 2007, 17 years ago
(Roadrunner)
Honestly, I feel sorry for Sharon den Adel. After a successful, decade-long European career, the band she co-founded finally has a domestic North American release, where she’ll be inundated with ignorant comparisons and questions regarding upstarts Amy Lee/Evanescence, with whom they’ll unfairly and unavoidable be linked. If entitled to only one track to give the uninitiated an accurate portrayal of what Within Temptation are all about, try ‘Our Solemn Hour’. Grandiose, orchestral and rocking, it encompasses all aspects of the band. The label is making a big deal about ‘What Have You Done’, the single featuring a duet with Keith Caputo. Not sure which Roadrunner employee he has incriminating photos of, but there’s really no reason to keep propping up his career, especially at the expense of a “new” signee (den Adel has already been vocal in interviews about the awkward intrusion). While the title cut utilizes modulated vocals and voice-overs (including WWII-era British PM, Winston Churchill), the piano and synth underpinnings of ‘Frozen’ or the big ballad ‘Final Destination’ are more typical, with den Adel cooing like a metalized Tori Amos (who covered Slayer, so she might be on to something there). Just having the band finally set foot on this continent is reason enough to buy the disc!
