I learned about this band like three years ago and I really love this band. I like their songs. Their songs seem to go deep within me. I used to sing classical so I really can relate with the song because I can’t do the “birit” like Regine Velasquez or Celine Dion but I can hit the pitch of Within Temptation by singing falsetto.
Anyways, Within Temptation is a Dutch metal band. The band was founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. Their music is described as symphonic metal, gothic metal and gothic rock, although in an interview, Den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences,and in a later interview with 3VOOR12, Sharon stated that "we consider ourselves more a symphonic rock/metal band ... we are in my opinion no gothic band".
Directly after the release of their first album Enter, the band became prominent in the underground scene. However it wasn't until 2001 that they became known to the general public, with the single "Ice Queen" from the album Mother Earth, which reached #2 on the charts. Since then, the band won the Conamus Exportprijs five years in a row. Their next album The Silent Force debuted at #1 on the Dutch charts, as did their latest, The Heart of Everything.
Long-term partners Robert Westerholt (on guitar) and Sharon den Adel (Vocals) began the band in 1996, quickly adding Jeroen van Veen on bass guitar, Michiel Papenhove on guitar, Martijn Westerholt at the keyboard and (following a succession of short-lived drummers) Ivar de Graaf. They were quickly offered a recording contract and signed to DSFA Records later that year, beginning work on their first release.
The Heart of Everything (2007-2009)
From left to right: Jeroen van Veen, Stephen van Haestregt, Ruud Adrianus Jolie, Martijn Spierenburg, Sharon den Adel, Robert Westerholt.
The new album The Heart of Everything from Within Temptation was released on March 9, 2007, in the Netherlands, and in the United States on July 24. Two tracks, called "The Howling" and "Sounds of Freedom", were recorded as promotion material for the video game The Chronicles of Spellborn, and the first of these opens the album. The full track listing was revealed on January 10.[18] The band embarked on their first North American tour with Lacuna Coil in May to promote the North American release of the album. Roadrunner Records also released a limited edition EP called The Howling, which was available only at Hot Topic stores, containing the title track plus popular tracks from their former album The Silent Force.
The album debuted at #1 in the Dutch Album 100, making it their second number-one album.It reached top 10 in eight countries and top 100 in eleven countries. As of March 30, 2007, the album has sold 150,000 copies.
The song "What Have You Done" was the first single released from the album. Its initial music video was recorded on the 12, 13 and 14 of December 2006 at the Koko club in London, and a CGI studio in Windsor. It features Keith Caputo of Life of Agony fame on guest vocals. Fans were allowed to participate in the making of the video, although this first version left the band feeling disappointed (comments made by the band at their March show in Lyon). Shortly after, a completely new video for the song was made. The song peaked at #7 in the Netherlands and #4 in Finland.
The second single, released across Europe in June, was "Frozen". The video, filmed in Romania, deals with child abuse, and sales of the single was to raise money for a children's charity, Child Helpline International. "The Howling" was chosen as a digital single release for the UK (not to be confused with the US EP release), and another video was also shot. The extended version of the "Frozen" single features an unreleased b-side, "Sounds of Freedom", as mentioned the second song written for the promotion of the computer game The Chronicles of Spellborn.
Within Temptation started their very first U.S. tour a few months after the European release of The Heart of Everything, supporting Lacuna Coil, and appearing alongside In This Moment, Stolen Babies, The Gathering, and Kylesa. The tour, dubbed The Hottest Chicks in Metal Tour 2007, was largely a success.
The Heart of Everything was released in the U.S. on July 24, and the promotional single of "What Have You Done" shipped to rock stations July 2. This was the band's first album to be released in America followed by the previous albums Mother Earth and The Silent Force a year later.
In support of the new album, Within Temptation decided to kick off their first headlining US tour in Fall 2007. The band played 13 shows, starting on September 5, 2007, in Boston and ended on September 23, 2007, in Tempe, Arizona.
On October 19, 2007, Within Temptation released the video for their third single "All I Need". The single was released in Europe around November 12 and features the single and album versions of the title track plus demo versions of "The Last Time" (previously unreleased track), "Frozen" and "Our Solemn Hour".[19]
In November 2007, the band released info that their concert at Beursgebouw, in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, was filmed for possible inclusion on a new concert dvd (either parts or all of the show). On February 7, 2008, the band performed a 10,000 audience show entitled Black Symphony at the Ahoy in Nederlands together with The Metropole Orchestra, a choir and several guest artists, and it was later revealed that this show would be filmed in its entirety for DVD and Blu-Ray together with a double cd, which was to be released on September 22, 2008, (international) and September 23, 2008 (in the U.S.). The trailer for the DVD (containing the entire live performance of the song "Our Solemn Hour" from the show) was released on the band's Opendisc feature on July 16, 2008. Another single from The Heart of Everything, Forgiven, was released to promote the Black Symphony release.
On November 3rd, 2008, Ruud Jolie stated on his blog, that the members of Within Temptation were going to take a year off.
"After the Theatertour, that will start next week, me and the rest of Within Temptation are gonna take a whole year off. For the last 7 years we've been hopping from studio to tourbus to airplane to boat to studio again to tourbus to bicycle to airplane to an occasional swimmingpool on the top of a hotel to tourbus again. We all really needed a break from the band..."
Their song "What Have You Done" is now on the video game "Guitar Hero: World Tour"
Their song "The Truth Beneath The Rose" is currently featured in the commercials for The Tudors, season 3, on ShowTime
[edit] New album (2010)
In the fourth quarter of 2007, the band announced that they would begin writing new material for another studio album. The expected release date was said to be 2009/2010. On 22nd February 2009, it was announced on the Within Temptation website that Sharon & Robert are expecting their second child in the summer, with Sharon also saying "Meanwhile, writing new songs is going very well, everything's looking good!"
In an interview with Holland's Face Culture, vocalist Sharon den Adel not only spoke out about the band's thoughts on their studio albums, but at the conclusion, stated that the album was slated for a release in early 2010.[20] In an interview with Metal Ways at Appelpop, 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."In November 2008, the band posted that 2009 would be the year that they begin work on a new album, encouraging fans to check into the website for further updates as time goes by, and that they were playing only a few more shows for The Heart of Everything.
