Within Temptation's Unforgiving

[ratanda]

The only thing that pisses me off about Evanescence is that bands like Within Temptation and Nightwish pioneered the female vocalist in metal trend, but Evanescence ended up being the preeminent band in the genre.

To me The Gathering and Theater of Tragedy were the pioneer bands with their releases in the early/mid nineties, and Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, Tristania, etc coming out with their debut albums a few years later. But then again, I guess coming first doesn't always mean being pioneers, and the sound and style of those early bands didn't carry the mainstream appeal of the later bands, nor, come to think of it, did it shift in such a way either (The Gathering going towards ambient rock, and ToT going towards softer goth and then industrial).

 

[Photino Decay]

I'd rather listen to her collab with Armin Van Buuren than listen to Faster, but it's ok... HOWEVER, the promo video has some background music which sounds pretty damn EPIC!

 

[hoodaman]

I'd rather listen to her collab with Armin Van Buuren than listen to Faster, but it's ok... HOWEVER, the promo video has some background music which sounds pretty damn EPIC!

that's a good one too if you're into vocal electronica/trance.

 

[AMBR]

how does the album compare to The Heart of Everything album?

Hmmm, trying to think about that. Well, there are some songs that are similar in structure and feeling on both albums, but the songs on The Unforgiven seem to follow a pattern. No, they don't all sound the same, but most of them are structured like this:

Start with an intro, Sharon singing some haunting lyrics

Verses with more riffs but heavily weighted in vocals

Fuller sounding chorus with atmospheric and sometimes symphonic elements.

All of the melodies are different, interesting and pretty catchy. Nearly all the songs are fast paced. But there is definitely a theme.

You might say that songs like "Frozen" and "The Howling" off of The Heart of Everything are similar, but then there are songs like "Our Darkest Hour" which is quite different. So, to try and answer your question, some songs on the two albums are the same, but there are more unique songs on the former album. This latest one is definitely a concept.

 

[Dominick_7]

About the Evanescense-ish sound, I could be wrong but I thought it was Within Temptation who did it first

It's in the ear of the beholder, but I thought Mother Earth was a pretty diverse gothic-sounding album. Between Mother Earth and Silent Force, Evanescence came out and Silent Force ended up being a much more heavy, straight ahead affair. The ballads were very modern sounding, whereas on Mother Earth they were very different, like In Perfect Harmony or Never Ending Story. Lyrical content was more Evanesence-like too. Mother Earth features a lot of stuff about nature, but Silent Force is a more personal, moody album.

The only thing that pisses me off about Evanescence is that bands like Within Temptation and Nightwish pioneered the female vocalist in metal trend, but Evanescence ended up being the preeminent band in the genre. Although Nightwish and Within Temptation have seen their popularity grow immensely in large part due to Evanescence's success. I wouldn't have been able to imagine those bands moving 5 million units back in the Wishmaster/Mother Earth days.

You make some good points. While I like all of these bands, it also gets to me that Nightwish and WT pioneered female fronted metal, yet Evanescence took off, at least here in America. WT has been pretty on top of things in the US, or at least more so than Nightwish, so maybe they can get the same kind of exposure and status as well.

 

[Dominick_7]

The first time I heard the CD I couldn't get past the fact that it was catchy and not heavy enough. But the more I listen to it, the more it appeals to me. Frankly, I can't STOP listening to it. Fans of the heavier Within Temptation style will no doubt be disappointed and grumble "Sell out." There are no growl vocals - no MALE vocals at ALL on the entire album. But, of course, Sharon's vocals are gorgeous and I quickly got over the lack of meatier male vocals. Some songs are clearly lighter, poppier if you like, but a number of them have the heavier beat and atmospheric sound you'd want from WI metal songs. In particular, the song "Iron" is a winner.

Overall, if you want the darker, metal of earlier WI, you will be disappointed. But this is something different. Lighter, catchier, hummable, it totally sticks in your head. Remember it's a concept thing and not necessarily indicative of what WI will do in the future. Enjoy it for what it is.

Thanks for the overview of the CD. That's how I felt about listening to Angras Fireworks album, which took a more so rock aim. I grew to love it over time.

 

[Dominick_7]

To me The Gathering and Theater of Tragedy were the pioneer bands with their releases in the early/mid nineties, and Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, Tristania, etc coming out with their debut albums a few years later. But then again, I guess coming first doesn't always mean being pioneers, and the sound and style of those early bands didn't carry the mainstream appeal of the later bands, nor, come to think of it, did it shift in such a way either (The Gathering going towards ambient rock, and ToT going towards softer goth and then industrial).

Good points as well.

 

[KingsGene]

via www.melodicrock.com :

"The new album of Within Temptation entered the rock charts of i tunes at number one today in the U.S. and the U.K. The album was released in 48 countries and is ranking in the top 5 in many major markets with further number ones in France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Finland, The Netherlands, Portugal and Switzerland. The band's concept album “The Unforgiving” is based on the story line of a comic series written by Steven O'Connell (BloodRayne & Dark 48) and illustrated by Romano Molenaar (Witchblade, Darkness, X-Men). The Album comes with a DVD featuring 3 short films introducing the main characters of “The Unforgiving” which are impersonated by actors.
Within Temptation is The Netherlands biggest musical export since a number of years selling in excess of 3 million CD and DVDs, receiving numerous platinum and gold awards; MTV Awards and many others. The band has performed sold out world tours and played the biggest festivals such as Roskilde (DK), Download (U.K.), Rock am Ring (Ger), Loud Park (Jap). As of August 2011 the band will return to the European festival circuit. September the 10th will be the start date for “The Unforgiving” world tour in New York."

 

[BenMech]

To me The Gathering and Theater of Tragedy were the pioneer bands with their releases in the early/mid nineties, and Within Temptation, Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, Tristania, etc coming out with their debut albums a few years later. But then again, I guess coming first doesn't always mean being pioneers, and the sound and style of those early bands didn't carry the mainstream appeal of the later bands, nor, come to think of it, did it shift in such a way either (The Gathering going towards ambient rock, and ToT going towards softer goth and then industrial).

You're pretty much right. Adaher's post you quote is revisionist history bullshit chopping the 90s (and probably 80s and 70s and the 1960s) out of it.

So, nobody remembers Skunk Anansie with their singer Skin?
Sure, we can push female fronted rock to the frickin Doowop/Phil Spector/Motown era if we wanted to stretch it. Then we get into Jinx Dawson's Coven . .and so on and so forth.

WT were always scenester clones. If we compared them to any band of the 90s, they'd be . . Candlebox. Maybe if we were nice, they'd be Stone Temple Pilots, except STP wrote songs worth remembering.

 

[TheLongshot]

You're pretty much right. Adaher's post you quote is revisionist history bullshit chopping the 90s (and probably 80s and 70s and the 1960s) out of it.

My understanding is the band that started it all was The 3rd And The Mortal. At least, that was what I heard was The Gathering's biggest influence.

I take issue with Lacuna Coil being a follower, since they came out around the same time as The Gathering's Mandylion.

 

[Comic Book Dude]

I finally picked up a copy of this cd.....I think this is an absolutely stunning album. These are incredibly powerful and catchy tunes, and I feel Within Temptation is really poised to dominate with this release. Outstanding music from an outstanding band!

 

[edgeofthorns]

I'm in agreement with Comic Book Dude...I love it! In my opinion, Within Temptation can't do any wrong! I feel like it has elements from their past releases as well as a new twist. For example, the song, The Last Dance, sounds like it could fit very well on the Mother Earth cd.

~Brian~

 

[Sir Exar Kun]

Definitely agree on the high praise for this disc. The entire first half is instantly memorable, and the second half continues the more symphonic direction of the last couple CDs. Definitely a departure from their previous material, but in a very positive way.

The song "Hard" has been stuck with me all day. Great galloping drumbeat on that one....

 

[spag]

Going to have to listen to it again. I didn't really dig it on the first play, but maybe it'll get better. Hope anyway.

 

[esa]

The first time I heard the CD I couldn't get past the fact that it was catchy and not heavy enough. But the more I listen to it, the more it appeals to me. Frankly, I can't STOP listening to it.

I used to believe that Evanescence deserved the greater glory solely on the strength of the precedent and the songwriting quality of "Fallen" (2003), nevermind what came after that. After hearing The Unforgiving (awkward title and all), I have to award the prize to WT. Only Delain comes close today.

 

[TribunalRecords]

This album beats anything Evanescence ever tried to do. This album had it all and very few female fronted bands have come close to the perfection of this album.

This new song isn't the old style, but i am digging it for what it is. pop music. i wasn't going to pick up the album, but i just might now.

 

[TheLongshot]

This album beats anything Evanescence ever tried to do. This album had it all and very few female fronted bands have come close to the perfection of this album.

This new song isn't the old style, but i am digging it for what it is. pop music. i wasn't going to pick up the album, but i just might now.

To be honest, I preferred "The Silent Force" over this album, tho the title track is awesome.

 

[edgeofthorns]

To be honest, I preferred "The Silent Force" over this album, tho the title track is awesome.

I did as well.

~Brian~

 

[VenomGA]

I prefer The Heart of Everything over all of their other albums

 

[KingsGene]

I must say that I know nothing of this band except for the numerous mentions here, but I always pretty much avoided them thinking they were just another symphonic female fronted thing a la Epica / Delain / Lacuna Coil. That said, I had heard great things mentioned about this CD over at the MelodicRock.com boards and thought I would DL it from eMusic as I was just looking for something different.

Wow, this is really an incredible album, even after just one listen. While it may almost fall in the "easy listening" category, it is just that....easy to listen to and enjoy. And the production is top notch....just huge sound.