THE STORY BEHIND

Symphonic metal was on the verge of a global breakthrough in 2004, and this emotional anthem of anger and betrayal would help kick it to the next level

WORDS: DANNII LEIVERS

BY THE TIME Within Temptation released The Silent Force in 2004, they were shaping up as one of metal’s great new hopes. The Dutch band’s first two albums, 1997’s doomy, gothic-leaning Enter and 2000’s fantastical Mother Earth, had helped put symphonic metal on the map, but it was their third album that really grabbed people’s attention.

The Silent Force was a weightier, darker collection than its predecessors. Landing just a few months after Once, Nightwish’s genre-defining statement, that year saw the two bands stepping forward as the figureheads for a rising scene that was becoming a global commercial force.

The Silent Force’s first two singles, Stand My Ground and Memories, had been big hits across mainland Europe, but when the band saw how fervently the crowd at live shows reacted to Angels, they decided to release it as the album’s third single. Elegantly bridging the ornate gloom of the band’s early sound, the Celtic-infused sparkle of Mother Earth’s burgeoning symphonic drama, and the arena-filling bombast that would follow, the song would play a significant role in Within Temptation’s ascendancy. Today it stands as one of their most enduring anthems.

“Everyone has their own interpretation of the lyrics,” says vocalist Sharon den Adel of Angels. “It holds such a meaning for so many people in many ways. It’s a song that people love.”