Within Temptation - The Unforgiving review
| Band: | Within Temptation |
| Album: | The Unforgiving |
| Style: | Alternative metal, Symphonic metal |
| Release date: | March 25, 2011 |
| A review by: | Ag Fox |
Disc I
01. Why Not Me
02. Shot In The Dark
03. In The Middle Of The Night
04. Faster
05. Fire And Ice
06. Iron
07. Where Is The Edge
08. Sinéad
09. Lost
10. Murder
11. A Demon's Fate
12. Stairway To The Skies
13. I Don't Wanna [bonus]
14. The Last Dance [bonus]
15. Empty Eyes [bonus]
Disc II [special edition bonus DVD]
+ Movies & Music
1 - Faster
2 - Sinéad
3 - Shot In The Dark
4 - The Making Of?
5 - Where Is The Edge
6 - Utopia [featuring Chris Jones]
+ The Unforgiving: The Prequel
+ Credits & Facebook Fans
In the blink of an eye, 4 years have passed since the not-so-critically-acclaimed The Heart Of Everything. Being lambasted for being sold out and radio oriented, it was also the metal album that drew my attention to the genre of music called heavy metal. Having moved on to other more obscure spectrums of the genre, it has been a couple of years since an album with the symphonic metal tag slapped on it came out that I can truly enjoy. With an album cover that seems to cater towards a much younger audience and an announcement about a concept album based on some comic series, I confess that my expectations couldn't have been lower.
Perhaps that's why low expectations are usually a good thing, because I was pleasantly surprised when I made my first casual spin of The Unforgiving when it came out. Excluding the musically not-so-relevant intro track, I immediately found myself enjoying the album, in particular when I heard the chosen single "Faster" for the first time. As it wore on, the smile on my face became more and more apparent. Make no mistake (especially for those who are still sitting on the fence as to whether to listen to The Unforgiving or not), those of you hoping for a return to Enter era's gothic style with some growls can continue to dream; those thinking The Heart Of Everything is too commercial can jump off a cliff instead of listening to this latest effort. Point is, Within Temptation has gone even more accessible to the point where even my great grandma (whom I've never had the pleasure of meeting) would approve. The
As I have given the album a cooling off period before returning to it, I have to credit Robert Westerholt for writing some catchy and memorable tunes that have quite a lot of staying power. This also illustrates how other me-too female fronted symphonic metal acts still have a long way to go in the song writing department. Within Temptation has strayed quite far from their gothic metal roots, but nevertheless, The Unforgiving is a standout modern symphonic rock record which I shall continue to enjoy.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 9 |
| Songwriting: | 8 |
| Originality: | 6 |
| Production: | 9 |
 | Written on 14.11.2011 by Ag Fox loves listening to music but is far from being a prolific writer. This corner just shows how territorial he is. |
Comments
| BudDa Elite Posts: 887  |
Meh. This album is bad. I have not listened to alot of Within Temptation and like you this was my first full length that I have wholly listened to. I just couldn't enjoy it the way you did. The album just sounds dull and half of the time just down right boring. And that "disco" sound really annoys me to no end!
---- Freeze! Step away from the hubris.
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| K✞ulu Seeker of Truth Posts: 2573  |
Good description = good review. At least I know I am as not interested in checking this out as I was before.
---- Savor what you feel and what you see Things that may not seem important now But may be tomorrow R.I.P. Chuck Schuldiner Satan was a Backstreet Boy
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| Enissa Posts: 816  |
A really good review for such an amazing album, I too had a very low expectation for this, that I was pleasantly surprised when I listened the first time...still, the cover artwork looks really bad!!
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| mariano Posts: 372 |
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| CyberSymphony Ollie Posts: 673  |
This album could have been much worse, its good, but just good and its not completely bad either. Lost and Shot In the Dark are the highlights for me.
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| silenius Posts: 531  |
The whole album sounds like the set-list for the next eurovision song contest. They have merged symphonic metal with pop to the degree that they have invented a new genre, symphonic petal, i don´t wanna live on this planet anymore
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| Pazu Posts: 167  |
It's a shame. They did such wonderful music back in the day. It was never really metal, except for the first album maybe, but always very emotional. This however, I'm sorry, but it's more or less garbage in my opinion.
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Listened to a song on Youtube. Hit that fancy x in the top right corner before it finished.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 14.11.2011 at 20:35 Yeah, right. Sharon has a message for you, nancy boy: I CAN'T LIIIIIIIIVEEEE IN THIS FAIRYTAAAALEEEEE OF LIIIIIEEEES! (the chorus from "Faster", just in case you're confused) Kidding aside, this is probably the review I disagree with the most in recent memory. The album just plain sucks.
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| Susan Smeghead Elite Posts: 6941  |
This is an excellent album but only for those who don't mind a bit of pop when done well. WT does it very well indeed!!  A very fair review. I agree with most things you said but I don't feel like you captured the spirit of the music. When I think of this album I think of the band's high energy, the driving rhythms always pushing forward, and the nostalgic 80s vibe. It's not just pleasant and commercial rock, it's so much more
---- "A life all mine Is what I choose At the end of my days" --The Gathering "A Life All Mine" from Souvenirs
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| Ag Fox Angel No More Elite Posts: 4774  |
Written by BudDa on 14.11.2011 at 17:19 I loved it haha Written by mariano on 14.11.2011 at 17:48 well, I did say it being very commercial and something so easy on the ears that even great grannies can enjoy. That's pop, right? No, I didn't know about Wicked Game, thanks for telling about it (= But I think tracks like Shot In The Dark, In The Middle Of The Night, Where Is The Edge, Sinead are all very catchy (as in I can remember the tune just by looking at the track name) too. So crediting him is not such a bad thing too imo Written by K✞ulu on 14.11.2011 at 17:29 Thanks for reading and complimenting! [= Written by Enissa on 14.11.2011 at 17:43 I agree lol Written by silenius on 14.11.2011 at 17:53 you don't have to listen to it. As mentioned above, I did describe it as being very commercial  Written by Troy Killjoy on 14.11.2011 at 20:35 Knowing you, I would think you would have instead started to find Written by Slayer666 on 14.11.2011 at 21:30 haha, each to their own dude Written by Irritable Ted on 14.11.2011 at 22:30 thanks! and good memory too! I do think The Unforgiving is better than The Heart Of Everything too Written by Susan on 14.11.2011 at 22:40 well... Being born in 1988, can't say I have listened to a lot of 80s stuff > <
---- loves 小巫
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| Jason W. Razorbliss Staff Posts: 3523  |
Nice to see a review here, though I feel also that it does not give any indication to the feel of the album, particularly since the rating is so high. Of course I'm not disagreeing with the review, as I've made it quite apparent in a few posts related to things off this album how much I love it But, for me, with songs like "Sinéad," which has enough energy to be outright danceable, the review just makes me feel like checking it out only because I know I already like this kind of music to begin with...But, then again, I should probably be just thrilled someone else has a high opinion of this album considering a few of the comments on this page Also, I strongly do not agree that this is a take on the Chris Isaak song "Wicked Game," as all the trolls on the internet/youtube seem to think.
---- "After silence that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." - Aldous Huxley
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| farfaramir Posts: 128  |
It's not as bad as people say, but it's mediocre considering we are talking about Within Temptation. For me, it's not important if it's the most pop/rock/commercial album in the world, even if you accept this and you don't have problem with it, the album is still mediocre with some little highlights (In the Middle Of The Night or A Demon's Fate maybe)...
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| posthumous shock Posts: 3  |
I agree with this review. Within Temptation has apparently moved toward a direction that is quite obscure, and can I say therefore appear "monstrous" to some metallers? Instead of putting the new elements as commerical pop (which always implies dismiss), I prefer to consider them hybrid. Within Temptation's metal and symphonic taste did not disappear; it's just that there is something more, somethng that makes The Unforgiving sounds not quite metal (in this sense of what we commonly consider metal). But to be fair, no longer metal? I don't think so. It's a hybrid that we haven't come up with a name and don't know what to do with it. I'm not arguing that Within Temptation has achieved something (since being commerical has always been their trait). I just think its a pity to ignore this alnum's merit simply because of the "popular elements." Musical genres constantly appropriate each other, that's how music develop and surprise us, for the better or for the worse.
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| MétalNoir Fils du Lys Posts: 847  |
At least it can't be worse than Tarja's solo so-called "career". 
---- Notre destinée n'est pas encore tracée....
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| Ivor Staff Posts: 5492  |
For some reason I have to side with the positive camp. Didn't expect it at all after the first listen but it grew immensely on me very soon and I'd say I pretty much love this album. I'd say it's the metal equivalent of easy listening. I.
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| Enissa Posts: 816 |
Written by Jason W. on 15.11.2011 at 01:45 +1
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| quirin Posts: 105  |
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306 |
Written by quirin on 16.11.2011 at 12:20 Gotta love close-minded metalheads...
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Taty Posts: 1 |
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| mario132 Posts: 8  |
Maybe it was because of girl I really wanted to meet from the long time, and I did, and she told me that Within Temptation is her favourite band. I've never been in to such 'nice' stuff but I might say this album was the part for a big change in my life and easy to say the most important record for 2011.
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| Wes Posts: 424  |
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