If you have taken the
journey with Within Temptation all the way back from "Enter" in 1997 to
this new album, then you will have been following a band moving forward and
evolving a lot over the years. Indications of them turning their back on the
gothic and symphonic influences they've mastered in the past were pretty evident
on their last album "The Unforgiving" from 2011 and on this new album "Hydra"
they have come out as a full-blown rock band.
The album
features some very prominent and versatile guest vocalists:
Tarja Turunen
(ex-Nightwish),
Howard Jones
(ex-Killswitch Engage),
Dave Pirner
(Soul
Asylum) and American rapper
Xzibit,
and they do all add something special to this cool album, but they are all only
playing second fiddle to Sharon den Adel.
Already seen as one of the premier
female metal vocalist she just adds to her well-established position and her
performance is one that leaves me in awe.
I am sure fans of their early
albums will miss the dark and gloomy aspect in their music, and critics might
say they are selling out! I disagree; this is a very good rock album with hints
of metal, with an outstanding vocal performance. "Hydra" is a perfectly balanced
and produced album, which surely will have its critics, but it's honest and it
rocks!
A bold move, but I like it...
