Within Temptation

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Within Temptation

Within Temptation is a symphonic metal band from The Netherlands. The band was founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. Their music is variously described as symphonic metal, as well as gothic metal in some media, although in an interview, Den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences. Their music is also influenced from alternative metal, being most notable on The Heart of Everything album.

Directly after the release of their first album Enter, the band became prominent in the underground scene. It would however take until 2001, when they became known by 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. Their latest album, The Heart of Everything, also debuted at #1. They are often labeled as a band with a similar sound to Evanescence, although the only true similarity is a female singer.

In an interview, Amy Lee is asked if she's listened to them, to which the responds:

I heard one song of theirs last time I was here, actually. I think they're very interesting, I mean they're very dramatic, I like them. Definitely dramatic would be the word. I don't know, it's kind of off the wall. It's hard in the States, especially for music like ours, because if you're not having fun and like, it seems like if it's not heavy and fun, then a lot of stations don't want to play it because it just brings you down. So it was hard, even for our music, which is so dramatic, you know? So I think they'll probably have similar problems that we have.

Biography

Formation

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.

Enter (1997)

Enter, the debut album, was released in 1997. The album was well received and the band embarked on a four gig tour across the country, after which they were asked to perform at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Eindhoven, one of the Netherlands' largest heavy metal festivals. The band rounded out 1997 by embarking on their first international tour, of Germany and Austria. Also subsequently Ivar de Graaf left the band and was replaced by Ciro Palma.

The sound of Enter was very melodic and doom paced, influenced by gothic doom metal, heavily relied on fast keyboards and drums and heavy guitar riffs. Also prominent on this album are death grunts by Robert Westerholt and members of Orphanage.

The Dance (1998-1999)

In 1998 the band continued to tour actively - their profile had elevated them to the main stage at Dynamo for the 1998 event. However, Within Temptation had released no new material (and did not have plans for a second album at this point), to which end they elected to release an EP, The Dance, with songs that would further mature the sound from Enter.

Finally taking a break from touring, 1999 was largely a sabbatical year for the band. They took the opportunity to construct their own studio, as well as returning to personal pursuits, with plans to return to the fold the next year.

Mother Earth (2000-2003)

2000 was an eventful year for the band as they returned to touring, playing three Dutch festivals; Waterpop, Bospop and Lowlands. In addition they went to work on their second album, releasing Mother Earth in the Low Countries on December 1. The album was a moderate success in the Dutch charts the first few weeks after its release.

The band first released the single "Our Farewell", which never entered the charts. The second single from Mother Earth, "Ice Queen", was regarded as the breakthrough release for the band; in March 2002 it climbed to #2 in the Netherlands but was their first #1 single when it climbed to the top in Belgium. The success rebounded to Mother Earth, which continued to climb in the Dutch album chart, ending the year at #3.

2001 also saw a number of changes in personnel; Ruud Adrianus Jolie was added as a second guitarist, drummer de Graaf was replaced by Stephen van Haestregt, and Martijn Westerholt (suffering from infectious mononucleosis) was replaced by Martijn Spierenburg. Westerholt later started the band Delain.

The band achieved still wider appeal in 2002 with their first concert in France and even a headline gig in Mexico City. They attained their first major award, the Dutch Silver Harp. They bolstered this by embarking on a major international tour supporting Paradise Lost in 2003 and re-releasing Mother Earth on the GUN Records label across more European countries; it was a particularly large success in Germany, where it went platinum and reached #7 in the charts; the re-release of Ice Queen also charted well in the top 30. In turn the Benelux regions got a different release, a cover of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill". The band highlighted music festivals across the Netherlands, while their Mother Earth tour DVD claimed the prestigious Edison Award.

The Silent Force (2004-2006)

Plans for the band's third album came to fruition in 2004, with the release of The Silent Force on November 15, 2004 across Europe. It was produced by Daniel Gibson and an instant #1 in The Netherlands and charted well in many European countries. In support of the release they embarked on another large international tour in 2005, with dates across Europe (including their first major UK concert in London) and a one-off show in Dubai. "Stand My Ground" and "Memories", the first singles from the new album, continued the band's run of chart success, culminating in a second Edison Award. "Stand My Ground" was later to be promoted on the trailer for the film Blood and Chocolate. The band also provided some of the sound track to the videogame Knights of the Temple: Infernal Crusade released in this year.

In January 2006, Within Temptation won the Dutch Pop Prize (best Dutch pop contribution) and Dutch Export Prize (best-selling Dutch artist outside The Netherlands); the latter one given to them for the third time in a row. The band also reported that they were busy working on their next album, due to be released during the fall, and that they would start playing at festivals starting in April, in addition to going on an international tour at the end of the year.

The Heart of Everything (2007-2009)

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. 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 is also the first time a Dutch act ever charted within the United World Chart. It peaked at #38, selling 50,000 copies in their first week. 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 2nd. This was the band's first album to be released in America.

In support of the new album, Within Temptation decided to kick off their first headlining US tour in Fall 2007. The band played thirteen 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".

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 will be released on September 22, 2008 (international) and September 23, 2008 (in the US), according to the official site. The trailer for the DVD was released on the band's Opendisc feature on July 16th, 2008.

The band issued that in the fourth quarter of 2007, they would start writing new material for a new album. The anticipated release date is 2009-2010.

On August 5, 2008, the band's albums Mother Earth and The Silent Force will be released in the US for the first time through Roadrunner Records.

In April 2010, the song All I Need was featured in the American Television show, Vampire Diaries.

The Unforgiving (2011-present)

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.'[27] 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.[10] 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."[28] On November 18, 2010, the band announced via their website that their new album, entitled "The Unforgiving" would be released in March 2011.[dated info] The concept of the album would 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.[29]

Members of Within Temptation doing an acoustic performance at the Q Music studios On the official website, Sharon shared that they have recorded three music videos for the album within the course of a week.

'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.

On 3 February 2011, the first track-by-track review of the album was published by a freelance journalist online, via Last.fm.

On 22 February 2011, the band announced that Mike Coolen had joined as full time drummer.[32] However, the studio album had been recorded with Swedish drummer Nicka Hellenberg.

On 14 March 2011, Sony BMG organized an online-listening session of the-upcoming-album on a Polish website that only people from Poland could access. However, every song was soon after leaked onto the Internet. Within Temptation tried to prevent the leak before the release date. Limited promotion CDs were sent strictly to journalists who had to come to a listening-session.

On 21 March 2011, the second short film entitled "Sinéad" was released without an accompanying music video. However, it is available on the special edition CD/DVD set of The Unforgiving along with the remaining short film "Triplets" and music video for "Shot in the Dark."

The album debuted at #2 in the Netherlands, while the two previous albums, The Heart Of Everything and The Silent Force debuted at #1. The Unforgiving also debuted in the Top 10 of Belgium, Portugal, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland and Austria.[35] When the single Faster was released it did not chart as well as other Within Temptation singles like Stand My Ground and Ice Queen, though in the digital music store iTunes the song placed on the common charts, entering the Top 5 in the Netherlands (#4), while the single reached #11 so far. On the digital Rock Charts, Faster became a hit, reaching the #1 in the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Spain, #2 on Sweden, #5 in Germany, #6 in Austria, #8 in France, #10 in Luxembourg, #11 in Denmark, #13 in the U.S. #18 in Mexico.[36][37] In the first month, the album has around 1 million plays on the scrobbling site Last.fm.

On 15 April 2011, the band announced that the new single would be "Sinéad."

On 29 April 2011, the band was awarded "Best Other Media Music" for its album The Unforgiving on the new solenity "Buma Music In Motion", that awards creative and innovative methods to make music.

On 10 June 2011, the music video of Sinéad was officially released to promote the same single, that will probably be out on 15 July. The single is going to be a little different from the others, including 3 remixes of the music made by 3 different DJs.

On 10 August 2011, the band start touring at the Sziget Festival, but the tour officially started August 12, at the Huntenpop Festival, where the band played the whole The Unforgiving album among other albuns hits, the band called it "The First Challenge". During August, the band performed at several Summer Festivals as M'era Luna and Lowlands and will start a indoor tour in september, first in the North America and then crossing Europe.

On 7 September, the album reached Gold status in Poland.

On 20th September, it was announced that Robert would step down touring with the band (with the exception of the occasional show) as there was no-one to look after Robert and Sharon's three children. Robert will focus on production and songwriting and will play guitar in the studio, while Stefan Helleblad will play guitar live.

As of 31th December, Within Temptation was the 91st most listened band worldwide in 2011 on the scrobbling site Last.fm, with 90.000 new listeners[43], the 18th in Russia, 23rd in Poland, 41th in Finland, 56th in Germany, 79th in Brazil and 90th in Chile.

Current Members

• Sharon den Adel - lead vocals (1996 - present)
• Robert Westerholt - rhythm guitar (1996 - present), grunts(1996-97)
• Jeroen van Veen - bass guitar (1996 - present)
• Martijn Spierenburg - keyboards (2011 - present)
• Mike Coolen - Drums(2011 - present)
• Ruud Jolie - lead guitar (2001 - present)
• Stefan Helleblad - rhythm guitar (Touring only, 2011-12)

Former Members

• Michiel Papenhove – lead guitar (1996–2001)
• Martijn Westerholt – keyboards (1996–2001)
• Dennis Leeflang – drums (1996)
• Richard Willemse – drums (1996)
• Ivar de Graaf – drums (1996–1998, 1999–2001)
• Marius van Pyreen – drums (1998)
• Ciro Palma – drums (1998–1999)
• Jelle Bakker – lead guitar (2001)
• Stephen van Haestregt – drums (2002–2010)

Discography

• Enter (1997)
• The Dance EP (1998)
• Mother Earth (2000)
• The Silent Force (2004)
• The Heart of Everything (2007)
• The Howling EP (2007)
• Black Symphony (live concert, 2008)
• An Acoustic Night At The Theatre (live concert, 2010)
• The Unforgiving (2011)
• The Q-Music Sessions (2013)
• Hydra (2014)