Within Temptation - 'The Heart of Everything'

Dutch rockers Within Temptation have to be one of the most daring groups in music today. With every album, Within Temptation add something new to their music and their fanbase increases. Following the success of Mother Earth and The Silent Force, the group released The Heart of Everything in 2007. It has a lot of similarities to their album before this one, The Silent Force, but the group upped their game. The strong use of orchestral vibes were present, but also a lot more acoustic was, as well as epic sounds that were perfect for their next live albums, Black Symphony and An Acoustic Night at the Theatre.

Wikipedia says the album falls under the genres symphonic rock, symphonic metal, and gothic metal. Other people have also called them pop because of their commercial success. They're anything but a sellout; the group are getting the success they deserve. I think all of those genres are too vague to describe their music as a whole. Especially on this album, it's full of influences from other genres and full of inspiration—mainly from various sub-genres of rock, metal, and classical music. There aren't any gospel vibes on the album, but I can see influences from the realm of the religious concepts.

The album was a top 40 hit in many areas of Europe, and peaked at number 38 on the UK charts and number one in its native country to be their second number one album and their third to go platinum.

The Heart of Everything was the well-anticipated fourth album by the group. It was first released in the Netherlands on March 9, 2007 under the label, Roadrunner. The album is produced by Daniel Gibson and the lyrics are written by founding members Sharon den Adel and her partner on and off stage, Robert Westerholt. The CD is wonderfully presented with a beautiful album cover and a high-quality booklet with a medieval and artistic tinge to it. The booklet also includes lyrics.

The album begins with mood swinging rock track, "The Howling," offering a smooth introduction followed by heavy vocals. Their old gothic metal routes make a return, but are overshadowed by the grand choirs and orchestras. The next track "What Have You Done" features the throaty vocals of Keith Caputo and sinister lyrics. It was chosen to be the first single for the album. I think "What Have You Done" was a solid single choice with beautiful vocals and a little bit of a spooky atmosphere.

They selected two very good ballads to serve as singles with rather strange, but creative music videos. "Frozen" and "All I Need" stand out, and I find "Our Solemn Hour" somewhat addictive as the best track of the album for its use of choirs, effective drums, and dramatic orchestras. I do think the track is a little bit overproduced, but other than that, I really love the track.

"The child without a name grew up to be the hand, to watch you, to shield you or kill on demand.The choice he'd made he could not comprehend. His blood a grim secret they had to command." - from "Hands Of Sorrow"

I also like the raspy sound in the title track, "The Heart of Everything," as well as "The Cross" and "Final Destination." But one track I often skip to when playing the album is "Truth Beneath A Rose," the longest track on the album, but also one of the best songs. I like the track because of its fast-paced nature and elements of classical music.

I think my least favourite track of the album is slow paced "The Cross" because I don't think the raspy sound and squeaking particularly work together, but there are some effective baselines and decent lyrics in the song. Still, it's a nice song and I like how bipolar Sharon sounds.

The album's finale is gentle with the precious song, "Forgiven." It's a piano-driven ballad and it compliments Sharon's vocals. As cheesy as it is to end a song in a ballad in a style like "Forgiven," I think the fragile nature helps make the track both easy to relate to and enjoyable at the same time.

I loved the album because of Sharon's vocals, thoughtful lyrics and well-crafted variety underneath all the choirs and orchestras. The tracks as a whole work well, flow well, and it's pretty consistent, but the tracks also work well listening to them separately. This is an album that I would recommend. I think people from all musical backgrounds can enjoy this album to the fullest.

1. The Howling - "I wanna be awakened right now!" 4/5
2. What Have You Done - "Would you mind if I killed you?" 4/5
3. Frozen - "All colours seem to fade away..." 5/5
4. Our Solemn Hour - "Sanctus Espiritus! insanity is all around us." 5/5
5. The Heart of Everything - "Open up your eyes, save yourself from fading away now." 5/5
6. Hand of Sorrow - "Will all our sins be justified?" 4.5/5
7. The Cross - "Why have you waited to embrace me, my dear?" 4/5
8. Final Destination - "I feel the hand of fate, they're suffocating." 5/5
9. All I Need - "You've opened the door now, don't let it close." 5/5
10. Truth Beneath the Rose - "Blinded to see the cruelty of the beast." 5/5
11. Forgiven - "Love you so much it hurts my soul." 5/5