Gothic Beauty
Bands with a female lead singer get grouped in to one of three genres – Evanescence, Nightwish or Kittie. It may be a generalisation, but most reviews will have a comment somewhere about female led bands that they are similar to one of the above. There is no doubt that Within Temptation are certainly on the Nightwish side of things. What does that actually mean though?
‘Mother Earth’ opens with the current single of the same name which immediately strikes you with an interesting blend of a Celtic past blended with gothic extravagance – and this is how the rest of the album continues.
Listening to the album is like listening to one mammoth track with separate sections. Imagine the structure of Bohemian Rhapsody – different sections that blend together seamlessly. It seems that Within Temptation have managed to do this for the whole album – and whilst the tracks do not repeat themselves and they do not simply use the same material over and over – they manage to simply create one immense sound that is truly their own.
If you want operatic vocals – don’t look to Within Temptation. If you want thrashing guitars – don’t look to Within Temptation. If, however, you like your femme-fronted music to be on the more experimental side of “goth” then check out ‘Mother Earth’ now and you won’t be disappointed.