Within Temptation - The Heart Of Everything review
| Band: | Within Temptation |
| Album: | The Heart Of Everything |
| Style: | Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | March 2007 |
01. The Howling
02. What Have You Done [feat. Keith Caputo]
03. Frozen
04. Our Solemn Hour
05. The Heart Of Everything
06. Hand Of Sorrow
07. The Cross
08. Final Destination
09. All I Need
10. The Truth Beneath The Rose
11. Forgiven
12. The Last Time [bonus]
13. Sounds Of Freedom [bonus]
14. Blue Eyes [bonus]
15. What Have You Done [extended version] [bonus]
Behold Within Temptation, probably one of most popular symphonic metal bands out there. After Mother Earth was released many fans were surprised that the band changed the style of their music. But the album itself was one of the best of that year so its success basically covered up the fact that this band was heading towards a different pathway in metal (gothic/doom metal to symphonic/gothic metal). Then The Silent Force was released in 2004 and we all now knew that Within Temptation was not coming back to their original style for now. But behold their 4th studio album The Heart Of Everything and boy there were a lot of fans who were worried that this band was done (if they were not satisfied about (The Silent Force being more symphonic metal/rock).
But that was not the case with this album; it has brought back more gothic elements into Within Temptation. The Heart Of Everything can be described as Within Temptation's darkest album to date. Many will be shocked about this album due to the massive differences compared to The Silent Force. But even better is that it is more heavy and well adjusted than The Silent Force, which many fans will love. The performance of the band is as great as it has ever been and we also see a different side of Sharon Den Adel's voice. We all know her magnificent angelic voice from the previous albums but I was very impressed about her deep witchy dark voice in many of the songs from the album. Songs like "The Heart Of Everything", "Final Destination" and "The Howling" show a more fierce Sharon than her nice angelic voice.
This album can be viewed in different ways since this is another change we are hearing in the band, so there will be mixed reviews on this. Many fans are now done with this band and have moved on, but many are thrilled about the powerful music filled in this album and love the band even more. I started listening to this band from The Unforgiving and after hearing this album I stayed hearing more of their brilliant music. But I will say that just because the band has changed their style doesn't mean they were aiming to be commercial. "What Have You Done" is a single from "The Heart Of Everything" and I can say this is a very commercial song (I cannot argue about that) but that's the only song on the album that sounds commercial. Another negative is that I wouldn't mind hearing a bit more death vocals in this album like Enter but overall it's a great album that I enjoyed from the first song till the end.
Highly recommend this to all symphonic metal lovers and gothic metal lovers. One of the best of 2007 in my opinion.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 7 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 8 |
Written by Epictemptation | 24.10.2012
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
6.0
6.0
|
Rating: 6.0 |
What have you done? What have you done guys to the beautiful music that you used to plays in the past? I'm still trying to find a good and honest answer but the only one that I found is market, marketing, money, whatever? "The Silent Force" was already a bit deceiving, at least at the first listening because with time (even if I will ever say that the little electronic beats there and there were a terrible mistake) it was ok and some of the songs were more than alright. But even if we have some better things (no more stupid beats) on "The Heart Of Everything", I'm still disappointed, the new album of Within Temptation is just an average album of Pop Metal perfectly build for MTV? Read more ›› |
Rating:
8.7
8.7
|
Rating: 8.7 |
After the miraculous fame of The Silent Force and the criticism that was attach to it, fans of the symphonic/gothic metal act Within Temptation didn't know what they could exactly expect from them. Leaving the common gothic/doom metal setting many bands were approaching in those day for a more orchestral theme, they created The Silent Force. Also if you haven't listened to the The Silent Force it was basically a show off or a brag on mezzo soprano powerhouse Sharon Den Adel. The Silent Force was not all dandy and perfect. But it did prove that Within Temptation was not just another passing by symphonic metal band. They were up there next to bands like Therion and Nightwish. Read more ›› |
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