乐队列表 Symphonic Metal Within Temptation The Heart of Everything

Gosh, where do I start with this plastic, manufactured, emotionless ode to blandness? Well, the the obvious intent to generate massive sales is glaringly obvious, so lets start there.

Within Temptation, being closer to a europop band than anything bearing a slight resemblance to metal, is not surprisingly motivated by profit. What I particularly detest about this release especially, compared to other bands of the genre, is the masquerade they carry on. They hide their conspicuous lack of talent behind big melodic buttresses and sweeping vocals. The songs have droningly similar song structures not only to each other, but also to any mainstream rock one would hear on American FM radio. Intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge/solo, chorus, outro, barring minor deviations in a couple of songs. This gets old after about Our Solemn Hour, and by The Truth Beneath the Rose, its unbearable. If I wanted a lack of talent meant to sell millions, I'd listen to Lady Gaga or some similar pop icon whore and ditch the pretentious mock-symphonies found here.

Some songs have nice melodies that sound fine on the surface (The Cross, Frozen), but its all just so formulated. The song lengths (along with the aforementioned structures) have no variance, so the catchy melodies are Destroyed by the predictability of the song and the generic rock drums. The vocals are good, but not astoundingly so, and once again, vary very little.

The redundancy creates little forward movement at all, and this is why I choose to call this release stagnant. If the band decided to experiment just a little and failed miserably, the album would be far better. Filosofem is a wild and varied ride compared to this, not to disrespect Filosofem by mentioning it here.

The only redemption(s) this piece offers are the epic Truth Beneath the Rose and the bereft Forgiven. The primary is rooted well in the territory of mediocrity, like the rest of this album, spare the awesome (if not horribly predictable) bridge/solo section after the second chorus. The vocals here are moving and fluid, exactly how they should be, with an added amount of emotion that truly separates this part from the rest of the release. The secondary is an extremely well-done ballad that portrays its lyrical content perfectly. The piano is perfectly produced, and resonates very nicely with the moving vocals. The lyrics are a tad cliche, but the song is good enough overall that this can be overlooked.

All in all, goth rock is a capitalist genre for the most part, and it shows here. The foundational melodies are good enough, but a bit of creativity wouldn't hurt.

Sharon den Adel has the most beautiful voice in the heavy metal world, but the band behind her doesn't back her up, making "The Heart of Everything" a disappointment.

By no means is the recording unpleasant to listen to ; there are multiple choir and symphonic elements throughout the album to give it the ambiance of emotion and feeling. It also helps to have actual choirs and orchestras contributing to the music as well. The problem lies in the directing of the work…
In terms of an overall bombastic sound, the production is wonderful ; however, the levels are all even meaning that guitar solos are not highlighted and the bass seems non-existent. Simply put, it's just not heavy enough to give credit to the rhythm secion.
The songwriting is even weaker. The verses are sung for it's own sake, rather to evoke some meaning or purpose, and only three songs have rousing choruses, "Hand of Sorrow", "What Have You Done" and "All I Need".
It should be said ; however, that "All I Need" is the gem of the album and nothing should be taken away from the work even though it's the slow song, or ballad. The worst mistake of "The Heart of Everything" is the song, "The Cross" which features what I believe is a sampling of den Adel's voice as part of the keyboard line. Sharon's voice is easily the most vital sound of the band, and making a sampling of it diminishes its power.
Including "Stand My Ground", a single from a previous album, is also a bad idea if that song happens to be better than the majority of the new material. Still, the orchestral parts are amazing and den Adel's range is a pure pleasure to listen to.

In the end ; however, "The Heart of Everything" isn't satisfying enough and leaves the listener for something better from Within Temptation.