Band:	Within Temptation
Album:	Hydra
Style:	Alternative metal, Symphonic metal
Release date:	January 31, 2014
A review by:	Ag Fox

01. Let Us Burn
02. Dangerous [featuring Howard Jones]
03. And We Run [feat. Xzibit]
04. Paradise (What About Us?) [feat. Tarja Turunen]
05. Edge Of The World
06. Silver Moonlight
07. Covered By Roses
08. Dog Days
09. Tell Me Why
10. Whole World Is Watching [feat. Dave Pirner]
11. Radioactive [Imagine Dragons cover] [iTunes bonus]
12. Summertime Sadness [Lana del Ray cover] [iTunes bonus]
13. Let Her Go [Passenger cover] [iTunes bonus]
14. Dirty Dancer [Enrique Iglesias cover] [iTunes bonus]
15. And We Run [evolution track / audio commentary] [iTunes bonus]
16. Silver Moonlight [evolution track / audio commentary] [iTunes bonus]
17. Covered By Roses [evolution track / audio commentary] [iTunes bonus]
18. Tell Me Why [evolution track / audio commentary] [iTunes bonus]
+ Paradise (What About Us?) [feat. Tarja Turunen] [video] [iTunes premium bonus]

Most people have heard of the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Seems like Within Temptation are familiar with it too, as they've mostly stuck to their guns with the winning formula of 80's pop-influenced symphonic rock over soaring female vocals as per their previous album The Unforgiving, while trying to push the envelope a bit by featuring high profile performers in their latest album Hydra.

Though looking good on paper, every lover of music knows that this art form can't be judged solely on these tangibles. Yes, the type of music is more or less the same, the studio recordings of Sharon's vocals haven't dropped half a notch in quality, and the whole experience is as bombastic as ever, if not more. However, it feels as if the whole experience is completely bogged down by insipid song writing. Most melodic metal enthusiasts would have a hard time calling recent Within Temptation "metal enough", and let me make it clear that I am absolutely fine with it as long as the whole package is an enjoyable disc, as evidenced by my review of their previous attempt. In fact, those even taking a remote interest in the band would hardly expect these guys to churn out an album that's not radio-friendly. Still, the appearance of guest rapper Xzibit definitely caught me off-guard, and it's a nice little change that I would welcome more had the lyrics been more insightful than "yeah, we outta here".

That controversial track aside, the songs on Hydra are catchy as usual, but there's a distinction between good catchiness and bad. While it's not to the abysmal level of Rebecca Black's Friday in terms of annoyance, Robert Westerholt seemed to had been less inspired and most of the catchiness just feels more cheesy and awash with mediocrity, with the tracks feeling old already upon the first listen, and even cringe inducing at times as it really exposes the fact that there are hardly any memorable riffs present. Despite the typical siren wails of Tarja Turunen, the track "Paradise (What About Us?)" where she did the guest vocals is definitely a case of wasted talent and not playing to the operatic strengths of her singing, leaving those familiar with her performances in Nightwish wishing the collaboration had never happened. The only track that I feel the need to go back to is "Covered By Roses", but who'd buy an album for one 5-minute track?

As another popular saying goes, "With great power, there must also come great responsibility". The higher one climbs, the greater the need to live up to the expectations of fans. While my self-induced hype may have played a part in my judgement of Hydra, the vapid song writing, instead of the two minute rap or the band's target audience, is its major pitfall and can't be ignored, especially when we know what they are capable of.