Within Temptation - 'The Silent Force' (Roadrunner) Released 29/08/05

The Dutch are famous for a few things  - Windmills, Tulips and of course Dennis Bergkamp. ‘Within Temptation’ are a Goth- rock outfit who are trying to tell the world that the Netherlands can produce artists other than the Van Halen brothers…and they almost pull it off.

Their new album should at least give anyone with Evanescence withdrawal symptoms some succour. Formed in 1996, this is their third album to date combining semi-heavy guitars with operatic style vocals and an eighty-piece orchestra to boot. The lead vocals, supplied by the rather austere looking Sharon den Adel are the centre-point of the album. Her falsetto tones cut through the quagmire at the lower frequencies beautifully, even if the lyrics themselves are a little one dimensional, possibly because of the language barrier. Still, her range is phenomenal and whilst she lacks the raw power of Amy Lee, she does have more pure and an angelic quality to her voice.

The album kicks off with a nice orchestral piece and this under-pinning continues throughout the album. This unfortunately detracts form other, rougher sounding songs like ‘See Who I Am’ that are needlessly watered down. There are some attempts at trying something different like the Irish pipes in ‘Pale’ and solo violin in ‘Memories’ but once again, after a few bars the orchestra and band kick in again turning it all to mush. The best song on the album is ‘Aquarius’ where you actually get to hear the band for once with the Orchestra playing counterpoint rather than doubling the rythmn. Overall though, the album is quite poppy with songs like ‘It’s the Fear’ and ‘Stand My Ground’ that wouldn't be out of place on an eighties dancefloor. The Goth label they seem to have is merely a marketing gimmick. Put them alongside ‘Lacuna Coil’ or the mighty ‘Paradise Lost’ and their posturing becomes transparent.

You do get the feeling that there’s a great sound waiting to emerge here but they don’t yet have the confidence, or perhaps the will, to take some risks. It’s like all the emotion and passion in the songs has been pulled out and you’re left with an album that’s wetter than a Widows Handkerchief. Undoubtedly they play along to backing tracks when they play live (yep, Evanescence do it too – it’s rock Karaoke and thoroughly abhorrent) so the chances of hearing what ‘Within Temptation’ actually sound like are small and it’s such a shame. Overall, after a few listens, what appeared to be a decent record soon turns into background noise. A ‘Silent force’ that should be largely ignored.