TEMPTING FATE
The songs that chart Within Temptation’s evolution from symphonic pioneers to arena-filling stars
PICTURES: TIM TRONCKOE
MOTHER EARTH (MOTHER EARTH, 2000)
Evoking a fairy tale world of crystal lakes and enchanted forests, Mother Earth embraced symphonic metal, albeit with a folkier, less bombastic edge. This is Within Temptation at their purest and prettiest.
STAND MY GROUND (THE SILENT FORCE, 2004)
Sharon is very pro-liberty
On Stand My Ground, the band perfected a blend of anthemia and dark-edged splendour that has defined their music ever since. Almost two decades on, it is still one of their most enduring anthems.
In September 2008, Within Temptation visited Kherson, a port city in the south of Ukraine, just north of the Crimean Peninsula.
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE (THE HEART OF EVERYTHING, 2007)
The Dutch metallers were nearing the end of a year-and-half-long tour for their fourth album, The Heart Of Everything, and it was their first time in the Eastern European country. Two days later, they would play a show in the capital, Kyiv, but it’s Kherson that sticks out most vividly in their minds: a former Eastern bloc city on the rise, the beautiful tree-lined streets, the wide Dnieper River. During their stay, they were treated to a ceremonial tour with the mayor and invited, poignantly in hindsight, to plant a tree for peace.
Turning everydial in Within Temptation’s arsenal up to 100, with melodramatic vocals, hulking guitars and an absolute belter of a chorus, this is the band at their most electrifyingly overblown.
“They put us in national clothing and gave us traditional food,” vocalist Sharon Den Adel says, remembering the warm welcome. “We had an amazing few days.”
OUR SOLEMN HOUR (THE HEART OF EVERYTHING, 2007)