Within Temptation, Resist

Hydra was severely disappointing, I don’t think I could name more than one track from it, nor reproduce anything other than “faster and faster and faster and faster and faster and faster”. And it wasn’t (just) the fact that they abruptly turned pop, it was mostly the shallowness and repetitiveness of it all, there just simply wasn’t anything to grasp on. Even Sharon was generic and bland for the most part, and I have no idea how you can take one of the most recognisable voices in the genre and do that to it. For this reason, I wasn’t particularly interested in their new release, Resist. But because it’s been a quiet season and because I didn’t have anything to lose other than an hour of my life, I decided to give it a listen and I’m kind of glad I did. Not because it’s a masterpiece or anything, but because it erased a bit of the sour taste Hydra and their live performance at Artmania left for me a few years ago.

Don’t get me wrong, Resist is still every bit as light and occasionally poppy as Hydra was, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. And in general, pop music isn’t a bad thing, unless it’s mindless and soulless and boring and made on the assembly line. And thankfully, this albumisn’t that. It is, like I said, a lot lighter than what Within Temptation are known for, but it’s also a lot more varied and creative than Hydra. I would say it also has more depth musically and lyrically and it looks like they put a lot more effort into it (or maybe they simply found their footing in this new sound, as they have mentioned before they didn’t quite find what they were looking for in their previous experiments).

There are several moments of repetitivity where it sounds like the inspiration dried up, but for the most part it’s a rather pleasant listen. It doesn’t shine in any other place than in Sharon’s vocals (which are stupidly over-drowned in synths and a noise of instruments and additional vocals at times, and I say stupidly because you never hide your best asset!), but it’s progress and it gives me hope that they can still write/ sing good music, even if it’s different from what I used to like in them. You know I take progress whenever I can find it.

Resist retains a lot of the more traditional Within Temptation elements, such as Sharon’s high vocals or the epic male choir, but I think it would’ve been better had they not been there at all because for the most part they’re out of place (mostly the choir, Sharon is fine). This now ancient era is particularly present in Raise the banner, the only old-school Within Temptation track, with harsh vocals from Anders Friden from In Flames, their trade-mark “oooh” choirs, violins, an actual guitar solo and Sharon’s powerful vocals in an engaging chorus I can already picture her frantically waving her hands on.

At the same time you can hear a lot of influences from the more radio-friendly artists, sometimes with not so positive results (such as the aforementioned synthesisers that cover the main voice in In vain or those “I’m running out of ideas for this verse, I’ll just repeat something to get to the correct measure” staples of shitty contemporary music in Mercy mirror). One of the sources I noticed in a more constant way is Lana del Rey. There are many tracks in which I can’t shake off that feel (both in the atmosphere and in those gliding vocals) and I seem to remember reading Sharon is a fan of hers, so I guess it’s not all that surprising that she found inspiration in her work. Considering I like Lana, I can’t say it bothers me and I actually think it suits Sharon very well.

Most songs in Resist are pretty generic and don’t necessarily stand out much (just something nice to listen to in the background), but there are of course exceptions. The most notable one, and probably my favourite song from the album, is Firelight. The “whahahahayy can’t we rise again” part always takes me out of the mood because it sounds so corny and irritatingly distinct from the rest, but other than that it’s ethereal and a bit trippy and I really enjoy the ending, which is steady, intense and intriguing and inspires curiosity.

The reckoning is also a pretty cool one, in the vein of Evanescence, a bit heavier than the rest (not only because of Papa Roach’s Jacoby Shaddix, but also in the instrumental), engaging and catchy. And maybe it’s just nostalgia, but I’m happy to hear two of the voices that marked my teenage years singing together, especially since this doesn’t even begin to compare to Paradise (another track that was supposed to re-ignite my nostalgia, but turned out to be a complete flop).

At the opposite pole is Supernova, which is strangely catchy and upbeat musically considering the heavy theme it deals with (it’s written to commemorate her father’s death and even though it’s meant to be a hopeful take on the afterlife, I still find the mood oddly bouncy). The vocals have that Lana del Rey-type gliding, the instrumental is a bit spacey, the “I’m waiting for you” part is repeated waaay too many times and it’s one of the songs were the epic male chorus sounds the most out of place. It’s one of the parts that annoys me the most.

Thankfully it’s one of the few irritating parts, and I would say that’s the strength of this album, especially in comparison to what I was envisioning based on the past. Even though there’s little memorable or poignant content, it’s an enjoyable listen and there’s none of that “does this ever end?” sensation that I experienced so many times during their previous release. I also respect them for having the artistic independence to go over what the fans expected from them and switch the direction because they no longer felt content with writing the same music. Within Temptation are a band that have changed immensely throughout their career and while many artists become lighter for commercial reasons, I believe they genuinely felt the need for change for creative and personal motives and again, this is something that warrants my consideration. I’m curious to hear what’s in store for them down the road and hope they do a better and better job at managing their own desires and the quality of their music.