Jeroen van Veen

Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt.

They have been Classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other influences outside these genres, critics have noticed the band's experimentation and musical versatility.

In an interview, den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences.

In another interview, den Adel stated that "We consider ourselves more an atmospheric melodic symphonic metal/rock band... In my opinion, we are not a gothic band but we have gothic elements".

Long-term partners Robert Westerholt (guitar) and Sharon den Adel (vocals) began the band in 1996, after Westerholt left his previous band, The Circle.

The Circle renamed themselves "Voyage" and released an album called Embrace, including a song featuring den Adel.

Soon after that release the band broke up.

Westerholt then joined with den Adel in forming a doom metal band called "The Portal", including former The Circle band members Jeroen van Veen on bass guitar and Michiel Papenhove on guitar, as well as Martijn Westerholt on the keyboard and Dennis Leeflang on drums (later replaced by Ivar de Graaf).

However, they renamed themselves "Within Temptation", before they started recording their demo, Enter.

The Enter demo contained some songs that would later be released in their first album.

They were offered a recording contract and signed to DSFA Records later that year, beginning work on their first album.

After the release of their debut album Enter in 1997, the band became prominent in the Dutch underground scene.

Enter, the debut album, was released in 1997.

The album was well received and the band embarked on a four gig tour across the country, after which they performed at the Dynamo Open Air festival in Eindhoven.

The band rounded out 1997 by embarking on their first international tour, of Germany and Austria.

Also subsequently Ivar de Graaf left the band and was replaced by Ciro Palma.

The sound of Enter, whilst melodic, was doomily paced, and influenced by gothic doom metal, heavily reliant on slow keyboards and drums and repetitive guitar riffs.

Also prominent on this album are death grunts by Robert Westerholt and George Oosthoek, ex-member of Orphanage.

In 1998 the band continued to tour – their profile had elevated them to the main stage at Dynamo for the 1998 event.

However, Within Temptation had released no new material (and did not have plans for a second album at this point), to which end they elected to release an EP, The Dance, with three songs (plus two remixes) that would further mature the sound from Enter.

Finally taking a break from touring, 1999 was largely a sabbatical year for the band.

They took the opportunity to construct their own studio, as well as returning to personal pursuits, with plans to return to the fold the next year.

2000 was an eventful year for the band as they returned to touring, playing three Dutch festivals; Waterpop, Bospop and Lowlands.

In addition they went to work on their second album, releasing Mother Earth in the Low Countries on 1 December.

The album was a moderate success in the Dutch charts the first few weeks after its release.

The band released the single "Our Farewell", which never entered the charts.

It was not until 2001 that they became known to the general public, with the single "Ice Queen" from their second album Mother Earth, which reached No. 2 on the Dutch charts.

The second single from Mother Earth, "Ice Queen", was regarded as the breakthrough release for the band; in March 2002 it climbed to No. 2 in the Netherlands but was their first No. 1 single when it climbed to the top in Belgium.

The success rebounded to Mother Earth, which continued to climb in the Dutch album chart, ending the year at No. 3.

Within Temptation's next albums, The Silent Force (2004) and The Heart of Everything (2007), debuted at No. 1 on the Dutch charts and expanded their international recognition.

In 2008, they released Black Symphony, a live album recorded with the Metropole Orchestra.

This was followed in 2009 by An Acoustic Night at the Theatre, another live album, this time with acoustic renditions of the songs.

The band's fifth studio album, The Unforgiving, was released in March 2011 and was one part of a transmedia effort, alongside both a comic book series and a series of short films that together encompass a story.

The album saw the band increasingly venturing on new musical territories outside symphonic metal.

The group advanced the exploration of other musical genres in their subsequent releases.

Their sixth studio album, Hydra, was released in early 2014, and featured guest appearances from various artists: Finnish singer Tarja Turunen, who appears in the lead single "Paradise (What About Us?)"; Howard Jones, former vocalist of American metalcore band Killswitch Engage; Dave Pirner, lead vocalist of American alternative rock band Soul Asylum; and American rapper Xzibit.

This was followed by the band winning the Conamus Exportprijs, a Dutch music award, four years in a row, and a fifth in 2016.

By 2016, the band had already sold more than 3.5 million albums worldwide.

Their seventh studio album, Resist, was released in February 2019 and incorporated influences from other musical styles such as industrial and EDM.

Bleed Out, their latest studio effort, was released on 20 October 2023, and contains influences from metalcore and djent, alongside hints from their initial gothic metal inclinations.