The Silent Force

by

Within Temptation

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With "The Silent Force", WT scores a direct hit, capable of satisfying fans in all backgrounds without coming across as shallow or "watered down". Silent Force contains the trademark WT angelic vocals, but with far more organic and original symphonic orchestration and backing choirs than any of their previous works, following a widening trend in the wake of other "operatic" female vocal-fronted bands like Nightwish, Epica, or Octavia. (Though not to say WT are pretenders to the throne and playing copycat. They were one of the original pioneers of this sound many years ago, and have matured and refined this sound to the present magnum opus of The Silent Force.)

The Silent Force is anything but silent, and the album envelops you into a very rich and textured musical environment, weaving Sharon's beautiful vocals into a tapestry of crunchy guitars and lush orchestration. The chorus and anthems are epic, the softer songs are tender and moving, and the heavy parts just plain rock. This album has something for a wide range of music fans: from Evanescence-type music fans, to Gothic metal fans, to those who prefer "intelligent" symphonic music, or who are just looking for something different than the usual top 40 pop-tart music.

The first single released from this album, Stand My Ground, was purely designed to be a single, and sticks out from the rest of the songs on the CD. It is not stylistically representative of the rest of the songs on the album though by itself it is pretty enjoyable to listen to. Though some fans have cried foul and "sellout" when hearing this track on the radio (and I admit that when I first heard the single on the radio, I got worried that the new album would be entirely like Stand My Ground) it serves to give WT a foothold on the cookie-cutter radio and TV stations, which I have little problem with.

Stand out tracks that immediately captivate the listener and run through one's mind long after the CD has been turned off are Jilian (an orchestrated and epic metal anthem), Memories, Forsaken, See Who I Am, and It's The Fear (catchy chorus, probably a good choice for the second single).

All songs on this album are good, and the long wait after WT's last album was sure worth the wait. Buy this album, and disappointment will not be found!

This is a good album & worth buying, but after making an album as fantastic as their last one(Mother Earth),this comes as somewhat of a letdown! Im not a fan of Evanescence & feel they are mediocre at best and unfortunatley this album sort of sounds a little too much like Evanescence for my taste, as a matter of fact there are times when I couldnt tell I was listening to Within Temptation(even the lead singers voice sounds a little different on this album). The stand out track is "Memories".

I truly hope this album isnt the direction the band wants to go & on their next release they can get back to buisiness. Before you make up your mind about this band rush out and buy Mother Earth, Hell buy 2 copies.