CoC : Within Temptation - The Dance : Review

Within Temptation - _The Dance_
(DSFA Records, 1998)
by: Pedro Azevedo (8 out of 10)

Sounding very much like a mix of Theatre of Tragedy and Orphanage (minus the strange rhythms) will make a band sound very attractive to some and totally uninteresting to others, who may claim that they are unoriginal. However, although comparisons may be made to a few other bands, Within Temptation's sound is different enough from the rest (the closest being perhaps Tristania). But, regardless of their originality or lack thereof, Within Temptation are very good at what they do. That was clear in their 1997 debut _Enter_ (which I'd rate 9 out of 10), and the three new songs presented in this new EP are all quite similar to the material found in their debut: symphonic doom metal with female vocals and death growls. Sharon den Adel, their headbanging female vocalist, owns a delightful voice (as well as a radiant smile), and the rest of the band perform very well, too. Of the new songs, "The Other Half (of Me)" is faster than anything they've done before, and also very catchy. The rest follows their usual symphonic doom closely. There are also a couple of remixes here, both enjoyable, though nothing special nor better than the originals (not a surprise). The soft nine minute long remix of "Candles" plus "Pearls of Light" is an interesting idea, but the passage from one to the other doesn't work well, in my opinion. A CD-ROM track also includes some pictures and info one would expect to find in their homepage, plus an MPEG3 file with the nice classical version of "Restless" first released in their debut EP. Therefore, if you can play MPEG3 files, you'll get a 33 minute long EP -- not bad at all, but more than half of it are remixes, even though they are all very acceptable. It was a strange choice to include a song in MPEG3 format, though. Within Temptation confirm that they are one of the leading bands of their genre, and I'll certainly be waiting for their next full-length album.

(article published 1/9/1998)

CHATS
6/7/1997	A Bromley	Within Temptation: The Last Temptation

ALBUMS
1/14/2002	C Flaaten	7	Within Temptation - Mother Earth
5/13/1997	A Bromley	8	Within Temptation - Enter