Within Temptation
Catch them currently on tour until November 19 – especially if you’re a sucker for pyrotechnics.
Since forming in Holland back in 1996, over the past 26 years Within Temptation have risen to become one of the world’s biggest symphonic rock bands. Frontwoman Sharon den Adel explains how they did it.
The four upcoming dates you’re doing were originally going to take place in March. It must be a relief that they’re finally going ahead.
Absolutely. It’s something that we have been looking forward to. This is winter time and the virus hasn’t gone away. Things could still go wrong, but I hope that they don’t.
While other bands performed via laptop in their living room or garage during lockdown, Within Temptation presented an immersive event called The Aftermath, which was set in a postapocalyptic world and featured pristine audio and a lot of digital effects.
Well, we always like to do things big. We did a couple of smaller acoustic things and that was, like… nah [laughs]. The Aftermath wasn’t a real live show, but we wanted to give people something to dream about; to take them away to epic other worlds, to be fancy and bombastic and go the extra mile.
How was it getting to perform in front of live audiences again?
After so long being stuck at home at the start it was a bit scary. Before the first show I started thinking of all the things that could go wrong. By the second one I had learned to relax a little and it soon became fun again.
These arena dates are in the company of Evanescence. Their singer Amy Lee once said that you and she “started talking about the meaning of life within minutes of meeting”.
Amy grew up in America and I’m from Europe, but we have the same musical influences and we are both similar people. Amy is five or six years younger than I am, and we knew all about being the only girls in bands full of men in an industry dominated by men. We both knew about the loneliness of being on the road, and also the fun parts. We opened up to one another. It was really beautiful.
Resist, Within Temptation’s most recent album, introduced elements of electronic, industrial and pop music to the mix. It was also brave enough to address social and political issues.
As an artist you have to do what you believe is right. It felt right to discuss social dilemmas. Not talking about them doesn’t help anything!
You’ve also brought in several guest artists, including the rapper Xhibit. Did you care that some fans might have felt betrayed?
Not at all. Of course some people objected to that song [And We Run], but it was liked by a whole lot more. I consider it among the best things we’ve done.
“There are less costume changes, but the flames are still there. We love blowing things up.”
Within Temptation’s first UK show was back in 2004. It’s taken almost twenty years, but going from 1,145 fans at London’s Scala to the O2 Arena, which holds 20,000, is a huge leap. How did the band achieve that?
You must never lose track of your identity, but it’s also important to recognise what is contemporary. And we worked really, really hard. This was not handed to us; we were always on tour. And we did it in really small steps.
Your most recent album, Resist, was released as long ago as 2019, but there have been three singles, the latest of which was Don’t Pray For Me back in July. Have Within Temptation abandoned the ‘old’ model of the album?
No, there will be a new album next year – when it’s finished – but we have been experimenting with releasing singles, with more of those to come.
Tell us about the live show. Are there a lot of costume changes, and enough pyro to blow up a small desert island?
There are less costume changes than before, but the flames are still there. We love blowing things up.
The tour finishes on November 19.