Within Temptation: Attacking Today For A Brighter Tomorrow

Sharon den Adel, vocalist and co-founder of Dutch symphonic metal giants WITHIN TEMPTATION, is looking to the future. In a career that’s approaching the three-decade mark – one that has seen the band go from the Netherlands underground to landmark moments like opening for IRON MAIDEN and headlining Bloodstock Festival on these shores, or the phenomenal Black Symphony album from 2008 that saw them perform with The Metropole Orchestra, the Pa’dam Choir and a number of special guests – she’s never been one to reflect on where she’s come from, or certainly not for long periods.

“Sometimes we sit down after a show and say ‘remember when we were at this stage and this happened?’, but otherwise we don’t want to stand still,” she opines. “If you look back you lose time, and whilst we’ve had an amazing journey, we don’t want to end yet; we love that we want to evolve each time.”

The big progression on this occasion was the band’s decision to go fully independent, away from record labels. It must be pointed out that there was no bad blood when they decided to end ties with Vertigo Records, they just wanted to break away from the traditional cycle of ‘write, record, release, tour’ that a lot of bands undertake. Sharon’s quick to point out, though, that there’s always another side to the coin.

“When you’re young and starting out, it’s good to have a record company because of how much they do, but we’ve been around long enough to know how things go behind the scenes and what those companies can actually do for you, so we felt able to take on those commitments. We didn’t take into consideration things like how much they influence your appearance on playlists and certain streaming platform, but really that’s the only negative for us; having control of everything and deciding where the money goes is great.”

The break from a regimented process aided WITHIN TEMPTATION in writing material ‘in the moment’, a plan originating from the numerous delays to their Worlds Collide tour with EVANESCENCE due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With then latest album Resist already a couple of years old, the band decided to record a couple of new songs to play alongside material that would already be well-known; those standalone tracks would eventually form eighth album Bleed Out, arguably their heaviest and best album to date.

“When COVID happened and it became an endless period of sitting at home, we decided to figure things out as we went along,” Sharon explains. “We had the freedom to release things whenever we wanted, so we decided to and see what happened. The more the tour got postponed, the more we changed our plans and wondered whether we should make a whole new album and keep these songs as standalone singles, but we tested that by telling our fans as such through interviews and their feedback told us that might not be a good idea!”

Ahh, the fickleness of metal fans, both wanting new songs at regular intervals and getting shirty if they remain just as singles. That said, Bleed Out’s more direct aim at global, political issues has meant the collection of songs on the album are incredibly strong, whether it’s the spiked attack on the Ukraine war in Wireless or the call for increased freedom for Iranian women in the title track, inspired by Mahsa Amini, who was detained for not wearing a hijab and would later die in suspicious circumstances. Both matters, Sharon reveals, are particularly close to her heart.

“I lived in the Middle East for a while as a child and, while I’ve got a very positive experience, even then I could feel the differences between boys and girls without it being spoken about. To see those women speaking out saying ‘we want to have more control over how we have religion in our lives, how we dress and how we express ourselves.’ and knowing that the intense and extreme regime means they could be imprisoned or even die for what they’re saying. It’s something we don’t have anything to compare with in where we’re living right now, and that inspired me to write about it.”

 “As for Wireless, we got to know former Ukrainian tennis player Alexandr Dolgopolov and his family through our daughter’s lessons – he probably won’t remember it, but he came and spoke to us while she was training, and it was a very sweet gesture. When the war broke out, he joined the Armed Forces and used his stories on social media to show the world what was really happening on the frontline. At one point, he was comparing hurling grenades to throwing tennis balls up for a serve and those sorts of moments, whether from him or Mahsa Amini, they tell a story through the emotions you feel. Then the words and the music come by themselves.”

In November next year, those stories will be performed to thousands as WITHIN TEMPTATION undertake their first UK arena tour as sole headliners, with four dates including one at the hallowed Wembley Arena. As has been the case since 2011, Sharon’s husband and other band founder Robert Westerholt will not be present on stage; he stepped back from the live circuit to focus on bring up their three daughters. That, therefore, might suggest that he would return as a full touring member once they were fully grown, but Sharon is quick to quash that suggestion. “He’s always seen himself more of a composer than a guitar player and, while he’s a good guitar player, he’s not like Stefan [Helleblad] or Ruud [Jolie, the band’s other guitarist]. He also doesn’t see himself as such a major player within the band that he’s the only one who can play those songs live, so he doesn’t want to pull rank and replace the others who, for which, playing guitar is their thing.”

She continues, “he just loves being in the studio nowadays, working on new material, how the stage should look, that kind of thing.”

As for what the stage for the next tour might look like, or whether there are any other surprises in store, Sharon can’t reveal much, but that’s not because of spoilers. “We’re still working on everything!” She admits with a smile. “But I’m looking forward to it, that’s for sure. There’s more work to do, because we had EVANESCENCE to help us with the last one, but hopefully people will remember those shows and feel it was a reason to come back and maybe even bring their friends.”

Given the tour is nearly sold out, clearly people do remember; and, as ever, Sharon is looking ahead, not back.

Bleed Out is out now via Force Music Recordings.

Like WITHIN TEMPTATION on Facebook.