CD by Within Temptation
Price £7.99
Review by Red Fox
Dutch
exports Within Temptation originally
started life as a gothic rock group, but with their second full-length release Mother Earth the band changed track
dramatically. Here they have introduced a mellower, more symphonic style to
their music and placed greater emphasis on the talents of vocalist/ front-woman
Sharon den Adel. The result is a rock album incorporating classical vocals
(reminiscent of Kate Bush) underlain with orchestral, Celtic and folk
sensibilities.
The
central theme of the album is mankind’s relationship with nature, in which
nature is portrayed in various guises: beautiful, sinister, caring and (most
importantly) incontrovertible. To my knowledge, the band has never professed
itself to have druid affiliations although the lyrics of many of the tracks
here certainly entertain this possibility… which is fortunate for me as it
provides the opportunity to review a rock album for TDN!
The
album kicks off with the title track: a powerful Celtic affair which I ardently
believe should have been notarized as a druid anthem long ago. With unapologetic
lyrics such as the chorus line ‘she rules
until the end of time/ she goes her own way’ and melodies straight out of
Medieval ages (there are even chanting monks towards the end), you can’t help
but be impressed by the overall delivery of the track. One of those rare songs
that pierce your consciousness and burn a legacy on your skull.
The
next track is the brilliant breakthrough single Ice Queen, a guitar-driven rock song about the onslaught of winter.
Once again this track falls into the ‘anthemic’ category and is punctuated with
an almost metal baseline, making you want to punch the air in accord shouting
‘we’re druid and we kick ass!’ There’ll be no dancing sweetly round the maypole
on this occasion.
Although
largely up-tempo, the album does have its more gentle moments such as with the
spine-tingling ballad Our Farewell. This
one has a very simple sound, den Adel singing like an angel over melancholic
piano melodies, and does tug on the heartstrings of even tough guys like me. On
an album of epic sounding rock songs this beautifully understated track fares
surprisingly well.
For
those who like a more dramatic sound there are a few seven-minute-plus tracks
including an atmospheric masterpiece called The
Promise. This tale of murder and vowed revenge sounds something like a
miniature movie score, making full-blown use of symphonic elements: think Wuthering Heights crossed with a Hans Zimmer composition. Although the
theme of this track harkens back to the darker origins of the band, it is
musically a large step forward and one of the reasons the band was later cast-
albeit dubiously- in the ‘symphonic metal’ genre.
So
there you have it: a perfect example of druidesque music that can seriously
rock. The band deals with the nature theme bravely and, it has to be said, very
successfully (although not every track is nature-orientated). The quality of
the music is consistently high but the components of the songs varied enough to
keep things interesting throughout. There’s plenty to explore on this album and
I’d recommend in a heartbeat to anyone remotely interested in this genre. Druid
music just got exciting.
Available from Amazon.co.uk
Return to CD reviews
