Within Temptation

Within Temptation is a band from The Netherlands. Despite being labeled by the media as a gothic metal band, Within Temptation consider themselves "more a symphonic rock/metal band ... we are in my opinion no Gothic band". The band consists of vocalist Sharon den Adel, guitarist Robert Westerholt, Jeroen Van Veen (bass), Martijn Spierenburg (keyboards) and Ruud Adrianus Jolie (guitars). Within Temptation was formed in 1996 by Robert and Sharon, after Robert left his previous band The Circle, who then renamed themselves Voyage. The Circle members Michiel Papenhove and Jeroen Van Veen also left to join Robert in his new project. Martijn Spierenburg also left The Circle, and joined Within Temptation in 2000. In 1996, Within Temptation released their Enter demo, and were picked up by DSFA Records. The following year, they released their first full length album, also entitled Enter. This album established them in the underground scene, and led them to play their fourth-ever gig at the legendary Dynamo festival. In 1998, they followed up with an EP, The Dance, and progressed to the main stage at Dynamo. The band returned to university after The Dance, and in 2000 released their breakthrough album, Mother Earth. The second single from the album, Ice Queen, became a #2 hit on the Dutch charts. This was followed by the Mother Earth single, which helped Within Temptation to break through in other European countries, most notably in Germany. In 2003, released another EP, Running Up That Hill, and their first DVD, the Mother Earth Tour, which earned them an Edison Award. In late 2004, the band released their third studio album, The Silent Force. The lead single from the album, Stand My Ground was an instant success, which was followed by Memories and Angels. Within Temptation toured worldwide with The Silent Force, and in 2005, released the Silent Force Tour DVD. In 2006, the bans announced a collaboration with The Chronicles Of Spellborn, an online role-playing game, and unveiled the track, The Howling, to promote it. The Howling also appears on their fourth studio album, The Heart of Everything. It was their first album to be released in the United States, and the band embarked on two US tours in support of the album. The album produced four singles, What Have You Done, a duet with Keith Caputo of Life of Agony, The Howling, Frozen, a charity single to support Child Helpline International, and Forgiven, the promotional single for Within Temptation's live DVD, Black Symphony. Black Symphony was a one-off show featuring the Dutch Metropole Orkest and the Pa'dam Choir, released in September 2008. In 2009, the band announced that they would be taking a short hiatus to write the new album. In a 2009 interview with Holland's Face Culture, Sharon den Adel stated that the album was slated for release in early 2010. In an interview with Metal Ways at Appelpop, guitarist Robert Westerholt stated that the new album was "probably going to be kind of a concept, but it’s so early still that nothing is really sure yet. But we’re trying to look in that direction." Within Temptation also announced the release of a new live album, An Acoustic Night at the Theatre, featuring the acoustic set from their 2008 Theater Tour. The album also contains the single Utopia, a duet with English vocalist Chris Jones. The single is due to be released on October 23. In addition to their work in Within Temptation, the band have made several notable collaborations and side projects. Vocalist Sharon den Adel has performed duets with After Forever (Beyond Me on the album Prison of Desire), Ayreon (on the album Into The Electric Castle), Aemen (Time, from the album Fooly Dressed), Delain (No Compliance, on their debut Lucidity), Anneke van Giersbergen (Somewhere, on the acoustic album Pure Air) amongst others. Sharon also wrote an performed the Armin van Buuren track In and Out of Love. Guitarist Robert Westerholt played the role of Death on the Ayreon album, Into The Electric Castle. Guitarist Ruud Jolie is currently working on a side-project, entitled For All We Know. Vocalist Sharon and guitarist Robert are also partners outside of the band, and have two children, Eva Luna and Robin Aiden. Ex-members include Ivar de Graaf (drums), Martijn Westerholt (keyboards), Michiel Papenhove (guitars), Jelle Bakker (guitars), Ciro Palma (drums), Dennis Leeflang (drums), Richard Willemse (drums) and Stephen van Haestregt (drums). http://www.within-temptation.com