Within Temptation Albums Ranked

Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have always been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other influences outside these genres. Their most prominent and well-known sound is described as symphonic metal, although their earlier material, such as debut album Enter, was mostly gothic metal,[4][5][6][7] with entering also having a hint of doom metal. In an interview, den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences. In a later interview with Dutch music platform 3VOOR12, den Adel stated that “we consider ourselves more a symphonic rock band … in my opinion, we are no gothic band”. Their latest studio album, Resist, was released in January 2019 and incorporates influences from other musical styles such as industrial and EDM. By 2016, the band had already sold more than 3.5 million albums worldwide Here are all of Within Temptation albums ranked.

Don’t miss out on the TIMELESS Within Temptation music below! Click to experience the power of Heavy Metal!

10. The Dance (1998)

“The standard of song writing is very high here, the band were clearly on a creative high period. Which brings the only complaint about The Dance up, it’s just too short. These are, as I said already, three of Within Temptations best songs. It makes me think that if they’d have put a full length album out instead of an EP, it would have been the best Within Temptation album. Perhaps a missed chance, but nothing can be complained about the three songs that we do have from The Dance, and by rating it for what it is, a perfect score would be warranted.”

9. An Acoustic Night At The Theatre (2009)

“Robbed of their metal content some of these songs end up sounding terribly bland. Sharon is a good, rather than a brilliant, singer and I’m not convinced her voice is quite strong enough to be so central as it is here, with the format exposing her limitations more than needs be. Tarja could have carried this sort of thing off easily enough, but Sharon not so much. The best songs (“Caged” or “The Cross” for instance) just about hold up but nothing on here sounds better – or even as good – as it does electric. In the end, whilst hardly unlistenable, you’re left to wonder just what the point in all this was. If they felt like plugging a gap between studio albums then a proper live album would have been a much safer bet.”

8. Resist (2019)

“I’m not going to complain about pop sensibilities. The best metal albums of all time are considered such BECAUSE of their pop songwriting on top of all their other numerous virtues, not in spite of it. Reign in Blood and Blackwater Park are both masterpieces, in part because of the bands “pop” craft.”

See more: As I Lay Dying Songs Ranked

7. Black Symphony (2008)

“Black Symphony is a very positive surprise to me, who is not the biggest fan of Symphonic Metal actually, but the two hours of music offered here are so beautiful and consequently symphonic, that I can’t avoid making an exception.”

6. Hydra (2014)

“Well, there was really no big surprises on this album, except for that Within Temptation now seems to have jumped on the trend of having lots of featuring artists. Material wise it’s pretty much what you would expect from the band. “Dangerous” with Howard Jones was actually a quite nice and catchy tune, and Howards voice suits the music really well. Easy going symphonic metal flirting a bit with the poppier crowds as usual. Solid.”

5. Enter (1997)

“The single release of Within Temption I actually enjoy. After this their style changed in a way which doesn’t suit me at all. Anyway Enter actually showed some promise to what Within Temptation could accomplish. Some very nice Gothic Metal on this release with nice symphonic elements from an awesome country…”

4. The Unforgiving (2011)

“The opening track was indeed goofy, as the silly old lady voice overs from their recent video clip made an appearance, but thankfully they’re kept very brief, and soon an actual song follows. Right from the start, I could tell the band was as focused as ever, and everything was delivering just as I hoped, as while the song sounds like typical WT, it has an amazing chorus that easily makes it one of their better efforts, and Sharon den Adel sounds as amazing as ever. I’ll take this time to mention that while the concept seemed goofy on paper, actually hearing it play out over the course of the album makes it seem so much better, and Sharon puts in so much emotion to make it all work perfectly. This album is definitely her finest hour.”

3. The Heart Of Everything (2007)

“The album indeed has it’s catchy hooks like the excellent “Hand of Sorrow”, the single “What Have You Done” – an evolved and more professional point of view of Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life featuring vocals by Keith Caputo from Life of Agony – or “Our Solemn Hour”, one of the best episodes in the album driven with latin chants. But as known, ballads are Within Temptation’s war ships, and the enchanting “All I Need”, piano driven “Forgiven” and melancholy soft-rockish “Frozen” are no exception.”

2. The Silent Force (2004)

“I would consider Within Temptation one of my favorite metal bands and also one of my favorite symphonic metal bands. The Silent Force is by far my favorite album by there’s and I would say that it is better than most releases these days. There are really many things to like about this band (Sharon del Adel’s vocals, the rhythm section, etc.) and The Silent Force really does show what Within Temptation is capable of to say the least.”

1. Mother Earth (2000)

“Breakthrough album from Dutch gothic metal band Within Temptation and in my opinion their last good one. Compared to earlier Within Temptation albums Mother Earth is rather poppy, but the songs are all very well crafted. They have a small Celtic flavor and Sharon sings in Kate Bush way. The main thing that should have been better is the production, especially the guitars sound very weak in the mix. But overall it is a more than solid album.”