LIVE REVIEW: Within Temptation @ O2 Brixton Academy, London

WITHIN TEMPTATION are a band that needs no introduction. Since their inception over two decades ago the group have headlined countless arenas around the world, headlined festivals and have accumulated more awards for their work than most bands could even dream of. Fresh back from their recent hiatus they return to the world famous O2 Brixton Academy in the heart of South London with a rediscovered hunger and a brand new collection of symphonic metal epics at their disposal.

The band charged with feat of opening this special night in front of a packed out venue is EGO KILL TALENT who have travelled all the way from Brazil for the opportunity. The five men set out to take on this mammoth task with a high level of energy and enthusiasm which is returned on the most part by the excitable room who clap on request and applaud the group loudly whenever required. They certainly do their job in warming up the audience but their radio friendly hard rock songs are very listenable but lack the kind of staying power that would unlock the door to headlining venues such as these with a majority of the tracks sounding recycled and unoriginal.

Rating: 6/10

The headliners suffer from no such ills. From the moment the house lights go down and the impressive stage lights come on the very foundations of the venue are in danger of crumbling from the sheer volume of the crowd. The band’s world class frontwoman Sharon den Adel grasps a white flag and swings it around her head as the band power through the opener Raise Your Banner before casting it aside as they follow it up with their brand new single The Reckoning with guitarist Ruud Jolie taking the place of Jacoby Shaddix on vocals. The WITHIN TEMPTATION back catalogue is littered with superb metal songs and the band showcase that perfectly with the one-two combination of Stand My Ground from the band’s classic third album The Silent Force and All I Need from 2007’s The Heart Of Everything respectively, which would be the peak of the set list for most bands but WITHIN TEMPTATION at this point are only just getting going.

Clearly no expense has been spared in the stage design for this tour with the layout resembling that of an alien spacecraft and lights that would make the Aurora Borealis look dim. This is no more apparent than during the brand new track Supernova from their forthcoming seventh album Resist which would normally be a difficult one to sell to the crowd before the album’s release but becomes a spectacle as a result of the visual display. Faster is another highlight of the set and shows the band’s penchant for writing instant classics with gargantuan choruses that are simply made for large scale arenas and festivals.

In the latter stages of the set the band get into the song Paradise (What About Us?) from their previous album Hydra which features a cameo from another titan of the genre, Tarja Turunen, (albeit from one of the giant screens at the back of the stage and a backing track) which gets one of the biggest crowd participation moments of the night and also gives den Adel a chance to really open up her vocal chords and tackle the beautiful operatic section in the bridge part of the song. A testament to the vocal ability and effortless showmanship that this woman possesses. A sublime version of the ballad Forgiven sees den Adel and keyboardist Martjin Spierenburg lit up by nothing but the screens around the stage displaying starlight which really adds to the occasion and pageantry of the WITHIN TEMPTATION experience.

The encore sees a costume change from den Adel from her gothic black/metallic attire to a mint green, floor length gown complete with a huge tulle cape and the band launching into the grand metal opus that is Stairway To The Skies from The Unforgiving. The song itself is epic in sound and when you add on to that den Adel being hoisted above the stage on a harness in a BON JOVI fashion you feel that you are really experiencing something special, especially as she doesn’t miss a note throughout.

Tonight WITHIN TEMPTATION have taken to the stage of one of the world’s most prestigious and intimidating venues and have made it feel like an intimate club show. The crowd took up residence in the palm of their collective hand from the very first note and have revelled in the superb metal theatre laid out before them and this is no small feat when you consider that five out of the seventeen songs on the set list tonight are from an album that isn’t even going to be released until December. This band have gone from strength to strength over the past few years and with a headlining slot at the infamous Grasspop Metal Meeting festival already pencilled in for next year it looks as though their stratospheric rise is set to continue.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Rhys Haberfield Media here: