Within Temptation have come a long way in the last ten years. From their humble beginnings, the Dutch band have now sold over 1.2 million CDs and DVDs world-wide, making them not only Holland’s biggest selling musical export but also one of the fastest growing new rock acts internationally. Formed in 1996 around the nucleus of guitarist Robert Westerholt and vocalist Sharon den Adel, Within Temptation released their debut album Enter through Dutch indie label DSFA the following April.
The album saw the band playing gigs across the continent, firmly cementing their phenomenal live reputation – most notably two appearances at the legendary Dynamo festival (in both 1997 and then on the main stage in 1998). Unbelievably for a band who were attracting such critical and commercial acclaim, they were actually all still in college. And so in 1999, Within Temptation went on hiatus to allow the band to finish their studies. Returning to the fray twelve months later, 2000 was to prove a pivotal year for the band. Building on their strong live following by playing all the major European festivals, the band released their second album Mother Earth in December. The new album again garnered critical acclaim - hugely influential Dutch music magazine Aloha tipped Within Temptation “for a major breakthrough” – and Mother Earth stayed in the Dutch charts for over three months. Starting the year with a major club tour of their homeland, Within Temptation released two singles from Mother Earth, Our Farewell and Ice Queen. It was Ice Queen that finally led to Within Temptation’s first mainstream commercial success. The single peaked at #2 in the Dutch charts with the album re-entering the charts at #3, eventually reaching Platinum status. The band’s popularity in Holland continued to grow and in 2002 it spread like wildfire across the continent.
Mother Earth clocked-up Platinum and Gold status in Germany and Belgium respectively, while the Mother Earth Tour DVD received Gold status in their homeland and won the band an ‘Edison Award’. Returning to the studio in 2004, Within Temptation were set to record their third and most successful record to date, The Silent Force, with producer Daniel Gibson. Fuelled by the massive international radio hit Stand My Ground, the album went to #1 in the Netherlands and Finland, #5 in Germany, Top 10 in Belgium, Portugal and Spain, Top 20 in Austria and Switzerland and Top 30 in Greece, France, Turkey, Sweden and Norway. A myriad of Gold and Platinum certifications followed.
The single Angels was released in June 2005 to coincide with their now annual festival run - which included appearances at Pinkpop, Werchter, Rock Am Ring, Sweden Rock, Ruisrock, Aerodrome and Gurtenfest – and European tours with Iron Maiden and Rammstein. In August, Within Temptation received a World Music Award for Best Selling Dutch Artist In The World. A release of The Silent Force in Japan, Australia, and the UK was next. More plaudits followed in 2006 with Within Temptation receiving the Dutch Export Award (“Best International Selling Artist”) for the third consecutive time in a row and a Golden God Award from the UK’s Metal Hammer magazine for Best Video.
They also released a special video trailer of new song The Howling via the internet in December in cooperation with game developer Spellborn. 2007 will see Within Temptation release the brand new single What Have You Done, featuring guest vocals from Life Of Agony front man Keith Caputo, and tour extensively across Europe (starting March 24 in Lisbon). Their new album, The Heart Of Everything, is set for release in March, produced again by Daniel Gibson and mixed by Stefan Glaumann (Rammstein). In describing The Heart Of Everything Westerholt comments, “Although you can still clearly hear that this is a Within Temptation record, many things have changed and evolved. Sharon shows how versatile she is as a singer more than on any record we've done. On some songs, she sings with a lot of power; on other songs she is more melodic… a siren enchanting her subjects. Sometimes she is emotional and sensitive. The guitars also play a larger part, and we have added an extra dimension to our new songs too by enhancing them with historic samples, as we did before on Our Solemn Hour. Compared to The Silent Force, our new album is more dynamic and energetic. It has a more natural sound.“
25/03/2009 - WITHIN TEMPTATION ON GUITAR HERO Dutch superstars WITHIN TEMPTATION have had their track WHAT HAVE YOU DONE added as downloadable content on the game Guitar Hero! You can download the ... 08/12/2008 - ROADRUNNER BARGAINS ON ITUNES If you head over to iTunes NOW, you will find two amazing Roadrunner offers!!For the month of December the NICKELBACK back-catalogue will be reduced to ... 13/10/2008 - AMANDA PALMER GOOGLES YOU... If you missed the recent tour of AMANDA PALMER, then you surely did miss a treat! As much a theatrical show as a gig, Amanda ... 13/10/2008 - CRADLE OF FILTH SINGLE 'HONEY AND SULPHUR' OUT NOW PLUS BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE VIDEO TO PREMIER ON MYSPACE Digital single HONEY AND SULPHUR, from upcoming CRADLE OF FILTH album GODSPEED ON THE DEVIL'S THUNDER (due to hit stores on the 27th October), is ... 25/09/2008 - WITHIN TEMPTATION'S BLACK SYMPHONY DVD OUT NOW! WITHIN TEMPTATION'S new DVD, BLACK SYMPHONY hit stores this week! The DVD is a video and audio recording of their Black Symphony show they played in ... 10/09/2008 - CATCH SOME OF WITHIN TEMPTATION'S 'BLACK SYMPHONY' PRE RELEASE In celebration of the upcoming release of WITHIN TEMPTATION'S BLACK SYMPHONY 2CD/2DVD extravaganza, Roadrunner have set up the following club nights, where you ca 05/09/2008 - WITHIN TEMPTATION PRESENT FORGOVEN, LIVE AT BLACK SYMPHONY WITHIN TEMPTATION have released a video snippet taken from their forthcoming DVD BLACK SYMPHONY, which will be released on the 22nd SEPTEMBER. Take a goosey ... 20/08/2008 - MORE ROADRUNNER CLUB NIGHTS COMING YOUR WAY! Roadrunner Records is happy to announce there will be the following club nights taking place up and down the country over the following months! Each ... 08/08/2008 - HEAR THE NEW WITHIN TEMPTATION SINGLE RIGHT HERE On September 1st, WITHIN TEMPTATION will release WHAT HAVE YOU DONE (LIVE) as a digitial single. If you head to the 18/07/2008 - CHECK OUT THE NEW WITHIN TEMPTATION DVD WITHIN TEMPTATION have released a trailer for their upcoming DVD BLACK SYMPHONY. The DVD showcases a sell out Dutch show performed with full orchestra and ... 03/07/2008 - WITHIN TEMPTATION 'ALL I NEED' VIDEO PLUS 'BLACK SYMPHONY' ARTWORK REVEALED WITHIN TEMPTATION have revealed the artwork for upcoming DVD release BLACK SYMPHONY. The DVD showcases the band infront of a 10,000 strong crowd, performing with ... 03/07/2008 - WATCH THE 2008 METAL HAMMER GOLDEN GOD AWARDS 2008 At midnight, July 15th, MTV2 will show the METAL HAMMER GOLDEN GOD AWARDS 2008. Hosted at Indigo at the O2 Arena, the ceremony saw performances ... 25/06/2008 - RR HEROS TO FEATURE ON KERRANG! IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE Following on from their 2006 Kerrang! Remastered CD in honour of Metallica's Master Of Puppets, KERRANG! have announced their latest tribute- Maiden Heaven - featuring ... 18/06/2008 - WITHIN TEMPTATION CONFIRM RELEASE DATE FOR DVD Earlier this week, WITHIN TEMPTATION dazzled tens of thousands of rock fans with an eye-popping Main Stage performance at the UK’s Download Festival. Renown 17/06/2008 - KERRANG! GO PODCASTASTIC WITH RR FOLKS AT DOWNLOAD! This past weekend saw the Download Fest at Castle Donington and there, as ever, were sponsors KERRANG! were there with their signing tent and their ... 17/06/2008 - NME CORNER A RUCK OF RR BANDS AT DOWNLOAD If you head to NME.COM you will find that they were a lil busy over the Download weekend interviewing quite a few Roadrunner bands who ... 17/06/2008 - ROADRUNNER TRIUMPH AT THE METAL HAMMER GOLDEN GODS Last night the staff of the Roadrunner UK office popped across London to the O2 areana to hit the Indigo for the METAL HAMMER GODLEN ... 11/06/2008 - PERFORMANCE AND SIGNING TIMES FOR ROADRUNNER ARTISTS @ DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL Want to know where and when to find your fave ROADRUNNER bands at Download Festival this year? Then look no further! Below are details of ... 18/02/2008 - WITHIN TEMPTATION ADDED TO IRON MAIDEN BILL WITHIN TEMPTATION have announced their inclusion on the bill for Iron Maiden’s massive Twickenham Stadium show on Saturday 5th July.Also appearing on 12/02/2008 - WITHIN TEMPTATION PRESENT 'BLACK SYMPHONY' On February 7th WITHIN TEMPTATION will present the 'Black Symphony' in a long in advance sold out show at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. The ... 25/03/2009WITHIN TEMPTATION ON GUITAR HERO Dutch superstars WITHIN TEMPTATION have had their track WHAT HAVE YOU DONE added as downloadable content on the game Guitar Hero! You can download the ... 12/02/2008'What Have You Done' to feature on Italian TV trailer for Grey's Anatomy The new track by Within Temptation, "What Have You Done", features on the new Italian TV trailer for 'Grey's Anatomy', promising a very powerful intro ... 17/06/2008KERRANG! GO PODCASTASTIC WITH RR FOLKS AT DOWNLOAD! This past weekend saw the Download Fest at Castle Donington and there, as ever, were sponsors KERRANG! were there with their signing tent and their ... 12/02/2008Has Finland's Eurovision Hopeful Katra 'Borrowed' From Within Temptation? Blabbermouth reports that a candidate to represent Finland in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest by the name of Katra, has produced a track, "Tietäjä" that ... 08/12/2008ROADRUNNER BARGAINS ON ITUNES If you head over to iTunes NOW, you will find two amazing Roadrunner offers!!For the month of December the NICKELBACK back-catalogue will be reduced to ... 18/06/2008WITHIN TEMPTATION CONFIRM RELEASE DATE FOR DVD Earlier this week, WITHIN TEMPTATION dazzled tens of thousands of rock fans with an eye-popping Main Stage performance at the UK’s Download Festival. Renown 12/02/2008TEMPTATION NIGHT OUT In celebration of their new album ‘The Heart Of Everything', we at Roadrunner have joined forces with the hottest gothic-rock loving clubs in all the ... 12/02/2008FREE HOWLING Within Temptation released today their digital single ‘What Have You Done Now’ but you can also download a free MP3 of ‘The Howling’ it’s like ... 12/02/2008KERRANG! TEMPTATION Get yourselves down to your local newsagents and pick up a copy of this week’s Kerrang! Magazine, which goes on sale today! The cover is ... 12/02/2008DIGITAL SINGLE WITHIN You no longer have to wait for the awesome Within Temptation’s new digital single ‘What Have You Done Now’ is out today! It contains a ... 12/02/2008BONUS TEMPTATION Within Temptation’s new digital single contains a veritable feast of bonus tracks. First of all, the track 'Blue Eyes' which unfortunately didn't make it on ... 12/02/2008INDIE TEMPTATION We are good to you guys, below is a list of stores of where you can buy the new Within Temptation album with signed numbered ... 12/02/2008HELLFEST Blabbermouth reports that the following Roadrunner artists are set to appear at Hellfest, taking place June 22-24 in Clisson, France.Machine HeadWithin TemptationHatebreedWalls of Jericho 12/02/2008Within Temptation announce new tour dates in 2007! Within Temptation are back! and we're very excited to see them play live again, to play their new material and to see all of you ... 12/02/2008Be in Within Temptation's forthcoming music video. Within Temptation will be filming the video for their upcoming single 'What Have You Done' in London next week and are looking for Within Temptation ... 12/02/2008THE GODS ARRIVE Last night at the KOKO in Camden, the red carpet was laid out ready to recieve the metal royalty - it was of course the ... 12/02/2008Within Temptation reveal new album title and artwork Symphonic metal ensemble Within Temptation have unveiled their new CD title and cover. "The Heart of Everything" is the title of the Dutch sextet's forthcoming ... 12/02/2008Within Temptation win prize fourth time in a row Congratulations! to Within Temptation will receive the Dutch Export Prize for the fourth(!) time in a row. The Export Prize is an annual award that ... 12/02/2008WITHIN TEMPTATION - THE HEART OF EVERYTHING Tracklising and release date for Within Temptation's 'The heart of everything' special edition has been confirmed. The album which will be available from November 12th ... 12/02/2008CAMFIELDS UPDATE Official VH1 Rock Chart (Fri at midnight, repeated Sun at 1am)Within Temptation are guests. You can win a Gibson Guitar, check out videos from Biffy ... Black Symphony Black Symphony Mother Earth Mother Earth The Heart Of Everything The Heart Of Everything The Silent Force DVD The Silent Force DVD The Silent Force The Silent Force Promo Live Shots Press Other
