StarDestroyer.Net BBS

I first got into their music with their album Mother Earth, though what I've heard before that was awful. The lead singer's voice was very operatic in origin with this album, which reminded me much of Nightwish, but...with better singing.

Their subsequent albums have shown her voice getting more variety in how she sings, culminating with their last one, The Heartbeat of Everything, where she ranges from a heavy-metal raspy yelling (impressive for her), to closer to her older operatic style, to more "pop-ish."

Mother Earth:
Within Temptation: Mother Earth: Mother Earth
Within Temptation: Mother Earth: Ice Queen

The Silent Force:
Within Temptation: The Silent Force: Stand My Ground
Within Temptation: The Silent Force: Angels

The Heartbeat of Everything:
Within Temptation: The Heartbeat of Everything: What Have You Done?
Within Temptation: The Heartbeat of Everything: The Howling


I got the idea for this thread from the other thread about (and was introduced to Within Temptation originally because of) Nightwish. In my view, Within Temptation does everything Nightwish did with Tarja, and did it better.

Except for Nemo, Moondance, and Gethsemane. Those Nightwish songs still win.

(EDIT: Found a better version of What Have You Done? - surprise, this version's not in mono!)

I really like both WT and Nightwish, but I have a slight preference for Nightwish. They're a little more metal, they've got a fuller sound, and I think they rock a little harder. In terms of the vocals, I'm hard-pressed to decide between Tarja's and Sharon's. Tarja obviously had more training, and could have been a classical soprano. Sharon doesn't have as much training, but she's got talent and a nice soprano voice too, somewhere between lyric and coloratura. On balance, I prefer Tarja, but I see how someone who's not such a classical music fan would like Sharon better.

Also, this is the textbook definition of damning with faint praise, but I found that Nightwish was able to distract me better from the fact that their lyrics kind of sucked. The groups have the same types of lyrics: lots of angst, and a bit of cliched imagery about dreams and angels and demons and such. With Nightwish, I almost didn't notice because I was too distracted by Tarja's voice and the background instrumentals. With WT, I occasionally have to cringe a little.

At any rate, I like both of them. They're very similar: bands with metal trappings, fronted by good sopranos, with liberal use of strings and sometimes a full orchestra. But Nightwish has a fuller sound.

Check out Flowing Tears:

"For Tonight"
"Merlin"
"Serpentine"
"Love Song for a Dead Child"

My preferred 'female-fronted goth-opera group', bar none.