  
Dutch symphonic rockers Within Temptation are
kicking 2014 off in style with the release of
their sixth studio album ‘Hydra’,
the album was originally due for release towards
the end of 2013 with the band set to head out
on tour in the UK in January in support of the
album but due to work on the album taking longer
than expected the release date moved back to the
3rd February and their UK tour also got moved
back to April to give the fans chance to hear
and remember the songs from ‘Hydra’
before seeing the band perform them on the live
circuit.
Anyone that has followed Within Temptation over
the years will know exactly how the band’s
music has flowed and how they have gone through
various different twists and turns through their
career even going down the concept route with
their 2011 album ‘Unforgiving’, well
‘Hydra’ see’s the band go more
back to their routes and come out with a really
lively sounding straight up rock n’ roll
album which is full of surprises on the way such
as the guest appearances from Howard Jones, Dave
Pirner, Tarja and rapper Xzibit.
The album opens with ‘Let Us Burn’
and from the off the song proves to be quite epic
with such amazing instrumental work but it is
more the passionate vocals from Sharon den Adel
which really brings the song to life as her vocals
change throughout as she lets off more passion
as the song progresses.
‘Dangerous’ sees the band team up
with ex Killswitch Engage singer Howard Jones
and the vocals of Sharon Den Adel and Howard Jones
work so well together even though they are both
used two totally different styles of vocals and
music yet hear Howard Jones really lay down some
killer vocals whilst also keeping true to the
melodic feel of Within Temptation, instrumentally
the guitars and keyboards keep the song flowing
in an truly upbeat way.
The weirdest moment of the album is ‘And
We Run’ and it is mainly down to fact that
ex Pimp My Ride host Xzibit is back in the rap
saddle and has been drafted in to work alongside
Within Temptation, on paper you wouldn’t
think these artists would go together that well
but oddly things work really well, in places the
raps of Xzibit are slightly blown away by the
epic instrumental work and Sharon Den Adel’s
massive vocal range but when Xzibit get’s
going towards the later part of the song his vocals
really start to shine though.
‘Paradise (What about Us)’ is an epic
song and see’s ex Nightwish vocalist Tarja
Turunen team up with Within Temptation and I can
see that this is a dream come true for fans of
Nightwish, Within Temptation and Tarja in general
and the great thing is having Tarja on the track
makes Within Temptation sound even stronger as
it is not every day that you hear two very similar
sounding vocalists sing back and forth with each
other, as the song progresses you will find yourself
tapping along to the amazing drum work whilst
also appreciating the jaw dropping guitar solo.
The later part of the album is very diverse sounding
as you have the beautiful ballad ‘Edge Of
The World’ where Sharon Den Adel really
shows off with her vocals. This is followed up
by the heavy ‘Silver Moonlight’ which
really see’s the band lay down the metal
with Robert Westerholt contributing with aggressive
sounding vocals. Whilst ‘Tell Me Why’
see’s the brand crank up the volume again
before things get melodic for the arena pleaser
‘The Whole World Is Watching which features
Soul Asylum’s Dave Pirner on guest vocals
and is easily going to be the song which see’s
a sea of fans rock out at live shows with their
lighters in the air swaying from side to side.
‘Hydra’ has easily been worth the
wait and despite the slight delay I bet the fans
can’t wait to get their hands on this album
and head down to the bands forthcoming live shows
to rock out to such a great collection of songs,
it is debatable but I feel that Within Temptation
have created some of the best songs of their career
within the album ‘Hydra.
4.5/5
Review by Trigger
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