Within Temptation: The Black Symphony

On 03/13/2013 at 12:31 AM by smartcelt

Just wanted to do a short music blog. To talk about an album I really like. By a band that most people are not very familiar with. Within Temptation is a symphonic metal band from the Netherlands,which was formed back in 1996. The two founding members are Sharon den Adel[vocals] and Robert Westerholt[guitar]. They attempted to do something on a large scale with this particular album. That is mixing their music with an actual symphony live. The symphony is the Metropole Orchestra,and they also included a full choir. Special guests appeared on certain songs that night. The performance was in 2008 at a place called Ahoy in the Netherlands. It was released as a CD/DVD combo. Only other band I can recall that has done this as well is Metallica. At least as far as metal bands go. I decided to show you two clips from the DVD. The first one is to show what they sounded like rocking out. The last one showcases the vocals of Sharon den Adel. The entire thing is up on YouTube if you wanted to check it out. This is a very specific and wonderful type of metal. Not the type some metalheads care for. But if you like superb musicians with a flair for live performance,you may just like this.

BrokenH

03/13/2013 at 12:35 AM

I actually like both Within Temptation and Lacuna Coil. Great bands! Aquarius is one of my favorite songs of all time.

smartcelt

03/13/2013 at 12:44 AM

Oh,absolutely! Lacuna Coil is incredible. They played here in Tulsa once and blew people away. Nightwish is probably my favorite band from this genre.

03/13/2013 at 01:22 AM

Nightwish introduced me to the symphonic metal fold. Bless them for that!

Aboboisdaman

03/13/2013 at 12:41 AM

My brother absolutely loves Within Temptation. He has all of their albums. I like them too. Female vocalists in metal bands really appeal to me for some reason. It sounds even better with the orchestra behind it! Thanks for sharing!

03/13/2013 at 12:47 AM

Glad you enjoyed it. I think female vocalists can add something special to metal songs. Passion and emotional depth are the two factors I refer to. Sharon has them both in abundance!

Super Step Contributing Writer

"The Howling" always comes on Song Pop when I play. I quite like it. There's actually been a few bands to play with a symphony (apparently, even Hoobastank did at some point), but I'm not sure how many metal bands, though I feel like Nightwish would have had to have done this at some point, right?

Either way, liked hearing "The Howling" with a symphony, and loved being introduced to "Forgiven." Very nice song. I need to collect all the soft songs metal bands have done, I'm not sure there's one I don't like.

03/13/2013 at 12:49 AM

Nightwish tends to do it with each album. They will release a classical version of the songs done with an orchestra. They did it with Dark Passion Play I believe.

Homelessrook

03/13/2013 at 08:31 AM

I love Within Temptation. My wife and I saw them along with Stolen Babies, In this Moment and Lacuna Cil. I also have the Black Symphony DVD + T-Shirt.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

03/13/2013 at 09:21 AM

whoah

Julian Titus Senior Editor

03/13/2013 at 09:37 AM

Getting the CD/DVd combo of Black Symphony is one of the best things I've ever done.

goaztecs

03/13/2013 at 11:54 AM

Thanks for sharing this. I'm not a big metal fan, but I really enjoyed Metallica's S&M, and I'm currently listening to the music in the video you posted, and so far I like it. I'm gonna check out more of their work, and maybe add them to my music library

Ranger1

03/15/2013 at 12:23 AM

I'm usually not a metal fan. Loved this, though.

Michael117

03/21/2013 at 05:12 PM

Big WT fan and this is one of the best concert DVDs I've ever seen, it's a great experience and very well done. It's hard to imagine Sharon was sick when she went on stage to perform this. She's my favorite singer, and even when she's sick she seems to knock it out of the park.

PixlBit