Track Listing

1. Restless
2. Enter
3. Pearls of Light
4. Deep Within
5. Gatekeeper
6. Grace
7. Blooded
8. Candles
9. Restless [Classical Version]

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #140774 in Music
• Released on: 2000-03-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Import
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Album Description
Japanese reissue of the goth rock act's debut album, originally released in 1997, features nine tracks including one bonus track, 'Restless' (Classical Version). Marquee Inc.

Customer Reviews

Unique and impressive debut
The first track on this CD, "Restless," starts out with just a piano and Sharon den Adel's beautiful, clear voice. By the time the rest of the band has joined in at full crunch, just after the two-minute mark, you'll already be sold on this great band from the Netherlands. Comparisons to The Gathering, Theatre of Tragedy, etc. are unwarranted. Within Temptation don't sound like any other band. While they do fit the "Goth-Metal" mold very loosely, their sound is all their own. They have something of a spiritual, Celtic atmosphere to their sound that just doesn't sound like anyone else. Sharon den Adel's voice just soars. She does sound a bit like Kate Bush at times, but more operatic at other times. She trades vocals with a male "death" growler a few times on the CD, but it only increases the interest of the listener, as it is not an overwhelming presence. The only reason this release does not get 5 stars from me is that I have heard their second CD ("Mother Earth") and it is even better. So, this is a 4 only in comparison to their next release, otherwise it's an easy 5.

Ahhhhhhh....
Too bad more of this kind of music isn't appreciated by more people. I have seen people comparing Within Temptation to bands like Theatre of Tragedy, 3rd And The Mortal, and Orphanage, but the band has something else really unique going on.

The most dominating part of the whole sound of the band are the vocals of Sharon (who's on the cover of the album, the poster, the postcards and the sticker as well) who's clear vocals bring us through this enjoying ride. To top things off, the occasional death grunts bring the variation.

The music on the album is dominated by the keyboards of Martijn Westerholt who gets an amazing amount of bombast out of a piece of silicon. The doommetal foundation of the songs finishes off this album. If you are a fan of this stuff, I STONGLY urge you to pick up anything by Orphanage (see my review of "By Time Alone").

Enter
Similar to Theatre of Tragedy's first two releases, Within Temptation is both haunting and beautiful. Within Temptation is heavier than Theatre of Tragedy, but the music is wonderful when combined with keyboards and orchestration. Like they say on their website, "The goal that Within Temptation pursues is creating atmospheric music, by combining agressive metal with spherical female vocals and synthesizers. With their music Within Temptation tries to take their listeners on a journey to a fantasy world, where magic still exists." and they do a wonderful job! If you're a fan of melodic doom metal or atmospheric metal, this is a CD to check out!