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Biography
Within Temptation formed in Holland in 1996 around the nucleus of singer Sharon den Adel and guitarist / song writer Robert Westerholt.
The band's debut album, 'Enter', enchanted the metal press with its fantastic mix of melody, orchestral elements and epic song-writing suss. A year later the band were invited to play a side stage at the Dynamo Festival - it was only their fifth performance overall - but they proved to be such a hit with the assembled throng that they were invited back the following year to open the main stage! The band toured relentlessly for the next two years, almost without a break.
Then, in 1999 they decided to take a year off to work on the now legendary follow-up album, 'Mother Earth', for new label GUN (Sony BMG). Without a shadow of a doubt, 2003 belonged to Within Temptation. Their sophomore album 'Mother Earth' - a wired amalgam of orchestral theatre and anthemic, metallic riffs - conquered the hearts and souls of the rock community Europe-wide. The singles 'Ice Queen' and 'Mother Earth' both went top 20 in Germany and top 3 in Holland, while the accompanying videos, along with an inspired cover of the Kate Bush classic 'Running Up That Hill', dominated TV screens right across the continent. This album went gold and platinum in Germany, Holland, and Belgium.
The Dutch-based sextet are set to do it all again in 2005 with a new deal with Roadrunner Records and a new album - 'The Silent Force'. Caught between the roughshod guitar board, an 80 piece orchestra, a choir (recorded in Moscow) 'The Silent Force' sees Within Temptation sounding even more powerful, more epic and more sensual than ever before - whether that be the subtle electro edge of lead single 'Stand My Ground', the beautifully arranged ?Memories? or the sheer striking force of Sharon?s ethereal vocals on 'Angels'.
'The Silent Force' debuted at Number One in the Dutch album charts and at Number Five in the German album charts. It also went Top Ten in Finland, Spain and Belgium, Top Twenty in Austria and Switzerland and Top Thirty in Greece, Sweden and Norway. A myriad of Gold certifications followed. A special edition is planned for the long-awaited release in the UK, Asia, Australia, and Japan in late August.In early 2005, with over 400,000 copies of ?The Silent Force? already sold in Europe, Within Temptation was twice awarded the Conamus Music Export prize. They were also privileged to accept the Edison Award for Best National Band (the Dutch equivalent of the US Grammy Awards & the UK Brit Awards) as well as a TMF Award from MTV Benelux for Best Local Rock Band.
Soon to crack one million album sales in their career, the future is bright!
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