Within Temptation
is a Dutch rock band. The band was founded in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. [1] Their music is described as symphonic metal, [2] gothic metal [3] and gothic rock, [2] [5] [6] although in an interview, Den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences, [7] 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". [8] [9]
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
[10] 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
. In 2008 they released a live DVD/CD, Black Symphony
, recorded with the Metropole Orchestra.
The new album, still untitled, is set to be relased in early 2010.
On August 11, 2009 Within Temptation announced that they would be releasing a new live album consisting of acoustic sets from their theatre tour, entitled An Acoustic Night At The Theatre. [11]
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WITHIN TEMPTATION TICKETS
|
Biography
Formation
Long-term partners Robert Westerholt (on
guitar) and
Sharon den Adel (
Vocals) began the band in 1996, after leaving the band The Circle. The Circle re-named themself into Voyage and released an album called Embrace, including a song featuring
Sharon den Adel.
Soon after that release the band broke up.
[12].
After leaving The Circle, Sharon and Robert started
Within Temptation, including new bandmembers
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
[13] 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.
[5]
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.
[15] [16] 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 three songs (plus two remixes) 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
[17].
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
[18] 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 headlined 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
[19] 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. The third single was "
Angels". "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 March.
[20].
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.
[21]
On August 5, 2008, the band's albums
Mother Earth
and
The Silent Force
were released in the US for the first time through Roadrunner Records.
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.
[22] 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, . "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".
[23]
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.
The Band has set new dates to restart the Theatre Tour in 2010.
On August 11, 2009, on their official website,
Sharon announced that an acoustic album would be released in late October/early November called
An Acoustic Night at the Theatre
. It will include several acoustic songs from their tour in November 2008.
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 February 2nd, 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!". The band's website subsequently announced that, on June 1st, Sharon and Robert gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
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.
[24]
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."
[25]
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.
[26]
Current line-up
- Sharon den Adel - Vocals (1996-present)
- Robert Westerholt - Rhythm Guitar, death vocals (1996-present)
- Ruud Adrianus Jolie - Lead Guitar (2001-present)
- Jeroen van Veen - Bass (1996-present)
- Martijn Spierenburg - Keyboards (2001-present)
- Stephen van Haestregt - Drums (2002-present)
Former members
- Ivar de Graaf – Drums (1996-1998, 1999-2001)
- Martijn Westerholt – Keyboards (1996-2001)
- Michiel Papenhove – Guitar (1996-2001)
- Jelle Bakker – Guitar (2001)
- Ciro Palma – Drums (1998-1999)
- Dennis Leeflang – Drums (1996)
- Richard Willemse – Drums (1996)
Discography
Studio albums
Album Title
|
Enter
- Released: April 6, 1997
- Chart Positions: N/A
- Sales: 100,000 (only in Europe)
- Label(s): ''DSFA Records, Season of Mist
- Singles: "Restless"
|
Mother Earth
- Released: December 4, 2000
(Nederlands); August 21, 2001
(Europe)
- Chart Positions: #3 NET, #3 BEL, #7 GER [27], #11 NOR [28], #30 AT, #70 SWI, [29].
- Sales 750,000 (only in Europe)
- Label(s): ''DSFA Records, Roadrunner Records, Sanctury Records, GUN Records
- Singles: "Our Farewell", "Ice Queen", "Mother Earth", "Never Ending Story" (promo only)
|
The Silent Force
- Released: November 15, 2004
- Chart Positions: #1 NET, #3 GRE, #4 BEL, #5 GER, #12 AT, #17 POR, #22 SWI, #26 SPA, #28 SWE, #30 NOR.
- Sales: 1.2 million worldwide
- Label(s): ''GUN Records, Roadrunner Records
- Singles: "Stand My Ground", "Memories", "Angels", "Jillian (I'd Give My Heart)" (promo only)
|
The Heart of Everything
- Released: March 12, 2007
- Chart Positions: #1 NET, #2 BEL, #2 FIN, #4 SWE, #5 POR, #5 GER, #8 SWI, #12 AT, #12 CZE#, 48 ITA, #22 POL, #23 SPA, #24 NOR, #26 FRA, #32 DEN, #38 UK, #68 MEX, #88 AUS, #106 US.
- Sales: 1.4 million worldwide
- Label(s): Roadrunner Records,
GUN Records (Europe)
- Singles: "What Have You Done"
, "The Howling"
, "Frozen"
, "All I Need"
, "Forgiven"
|
Other albums
Album Title
|
Black Symphony
(Live)
- Released: September 22, 2008
- Chart Positions: #3 NET, #4 POR, #16 BEL, #17 GER, #25 SWI, #27 CZ, #36 AT, #77 FRA
- Sales: N/A
- Label(s): ''Gun Records, Roadrunner Records, Sony BMG
- Singles: "Forgiven"
, "Hand of Sorrow" (Promo Video only)
|
EPs
The Dance
|
- Released: June 21, 1998
- Chart Positions: N/A
- U.S. Sales: N/A
- Europe Sales: N/A
- Label(s): ''DSFA Records, Seasons Of Mist
- Singles: none
- Animated music video made for the title track; can be found on the Mother Earth Tour DVD
|
Running Up That Hill
|
- Released: 2003
- Chart Positions: N/A
- U.S. Sales: N/A
- Europe Sales: N/A
- Label(s): N/A
- Singles: Running Up That Hill
- Cover of the Kate Bush song from 1985. Music video made
|
The Howling
|
- Released: May 1, 2007
- Chart Positions: N/A
- U.S. Sales: N/A
- Europe Sales: N/A
- Label(s): ''Roadrunner Records
- Singles: The Howling
- US Promo EP exclusively sold at Hot Topic in a limited number
|
Year
| Title
| Album
| Chart positions
|
U.S. Hot 100
| U.S. Pop 100
| U.S. AC
| FIN
| SWE
| GER
| NED
| NOR
| POR
| AUT
| SWI
| EU
| FRA
| BEL
|
1997
| "Restless"
| Enter
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
2001
| "Our Farewell"
| Mother Earth
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
2001
| "Ice Queen"
| Mother Earth
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 21
| 2
| -
| -
| 53
| -
| -
| -
| 3
|
2002
| "Mother Earth"
| Mother Earth
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 14
| 15
| -
| -
| -
| 81
| -
| -
| 33
|
2003
| "Running Up That Hill"
|
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 13
| 7
| -
| -
| 37
| 83
| -
| -
| 48
|
2004
| "Stand My Ground"
| The Silent Force
| -
| -
| -
| 9
| 21
| 13
| 4
| 20
| -
| 25
| 67
| 161
| -
| 9
|
2005
| "Memories"
| The Silent Force
| -
| -
| -
| 19
| -
| 17
| 11
| -
| -
| 44
| 45
| -
| -
| 26
|
2005
| "Angels"
| The Silent Force
| -
| -
| -
| 9
| -
| 25
| 8
| -
| -
| 50
| -
| -
| -
| 41
|
2007
| "What Have You Done"
| The Heart of Everything
| -
| -
| -
| 4
| 40
| 32
| 7
| -
| 3
| 49
| 36
| 135
| -
| 49
|
2007
| "Frozen"
| The Heart of Everything
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 64
| 11
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 78
| -
|
2007
| "The Howling"
| The Heart of Everything
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
2007
| "All I Need"
| The Heart of Everything
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 78
| 15
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
2008
| "Forgiven"
| The Heart of Everything
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 87
| 9
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
|
|
|
| U.S. Hot 100
| U.S. Pop 100
| U.S. AC
| FIN
| SWE
| GER
| NED
| NOR
| POR
| AUT
| SWI
| EU
| FRA
| BEL
|
|
| Number one hits
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
|
| Top ten hits
| -
| -
| -
| 3
| -
| -
| 6
| -
| 1
| -
| -
| -
| -
| 2
|
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