WITHIN TEMPTATION AFTERMATH REVIEW WINDOWS

Within Temptation are reluctant to call this a “political” album, but there’s no doubt it’s their most socially aware yet, far removed from the fantastical tendencies of old. “It’s more the drive of people and their personal stories. We’re not doing history lessons,” he says, arguing that the band didn’t find inspiration in the grim reality of the battlefield. Robert is quick to shut the comparison down. It would be easy to draw parallels between Within Temptation’s current approach and a band like Sabaton, who have made a career out of songs that go big on bombast and heroism. Sometimes you have just one song that opens the door.” “And finally, it happened on the very last few songs. “We have been searching for this for quite some time, to have a sound that is heavy, but still has this melancholy and beautiful storytelling lines,” she continues. When we suggest it’s a culmination of every step in the band’s sonic evolution, Sharon agrees: “But with an extra layer of heaviness.” “Certain elements have come back in, that made us in the beginning,” says Robert. It all sounds huge – built to fill the massive rooms the band have become accustomed to playing these days. The title track follows in the same vein, anthemic and cinematic, with hints of the epic symphonic and gothic doom of their earlier material. The latter influence, Robert says, has filtered into the band’s sound not through bingeing on Meshuggah albums, but because its cold, almost cruel, mechanical nature best helped to paint a picture of a universe in crisis. Opener Go To War sets the tone with a colossal guitar part and an apocalyptic choir, a chorus dripping in grandeur, and a marriage of synths with the unmistakable mechanical judder of tech metal.

Stepping things up a level was necessary to match the severity of the source material. While Within Temptation’s last record, Resist, blew their sound up to supercharged proportions, just one listen of Bleed Out is enough to confirm that this is Within Temptation’s biggest, heaviest record so far. “It’s dark,” Sharon notes, “because the album is dark.” It’s the same distance as Spain, where I’m going in a few days.”īefore they press play, they show us the artwork, which depicts a hooded figure in shades of black and red. “Kyiv is only a two-and-a-half-hour flight by plane. “Maybe that’s naïve, but not in Europe,” she says, curled up barefoot on a nearby armchair.

Her immediate response, like many others, was one of shock and fear, admitting that the old-fashioned method of warfare – troops and tanks on the ground – was not something she had expected to see in her lifetime. She was in Sweden when she heard about the invasion of Ukraine. The new name, Sharon says, is stronger, and more representative of the real-life struggles that have inspired some of the songs. Up until yesterday, the album had a different title on the few tracks we were sent in advance, it was The Ultimate Sacrifice. Sharon and Robert seem relaxed and excited to talk about the new album, although even now they’re still making last-minute changes. Inside the white-walled studio, art and guitars hang on one wall above a low sofa. We’ve been invited here for a world-exclusive playback of Bleed Out, the band’s eighth album, which, at the time of our visit, hasn’t even been officially announced.Īs Robert leads us through the house, we pass a rail in the hall that holds several leather jackets, and an enormous canvas bearing the artwork of The Heart Of Everything. Their friendly black labrador, Charlie, demands a head stroke, and gold balloons strung across the front door celebrate their daughter Eva’s recent high school graduation.īut it’s also Within Temptation HQ, the base where they’ve masterminded the band’s shift from ethereal, dark-edged symphonic royalty to a powerhouse of modern heavy metal (see: 2019’s Resist). As we talk, their two sons are next door playing a videogame on the TV. The couple have lived here for 15 years, and it’s very much their haven.

WITHIN TEMPTATION AFTERMATH REVIEW WINDOWS

We’re sitting in the stylish but homely kitchen – all high ceilings and tall windows – of Sharon and Robert’s house in a pretty, peaceful countryside town, 40 minutes from the manic tourist bustle of Amsterdam.

Within temptation aftermath review