Within Temptation - Enter (1997)^{Release ID: 7419}

Much more gothic metal than the symphonic sound they’d become more familiar for, ‘Enter’, the 1997 debut album by Dutch band Within Temptation, is a far cry from the sound the band would be more widely recognised with upon later releases.

Not that it’s a terrible album, but if, like me, your introduction to the band was via later hits such as the epic ‘Ice Queen’ and the majestic ‘Mother Earth’ (yeah, that’s right, I said majestic!) then this record just doesn’t quite compare.

The music is alright, but overall the songs just all seem to plod along. Maybe it’s the production, or the fact there seems to be more emphasis on death metal growling. I don’t know, but this album just doesn’t really do much for me.

Songs like ‘Restless’ and ‘Enter’ have potential, but more often than not I just find myself losing interest halfway through. But whatever, there’s far worse debut albums out there, and the band would more than make up for it with their next release.

5 years after my first review for Within Temptation's debut Enter, which I wrote many years after my first listen, I decided it was time for review attempt #2. Part of the reason for this second attempt was when I noticed a review having just been written for this album. Unfortunately, I don't find this album as great as it was long before this new review. I'm actually just returning to enjoy the symphonic metal sound Within Temptation would take on in their next album, and I'm currently into some other bands with an epic gothic metal sound, like Sirenia, Tristania, and Trail of Tears. So what changed? You'll find out as the review goes on...

So yeah, Enter is an entirely different beast from any of Within Temptation's later albums. They were part of the rising doomy gothic metal scene with "beauty (female singing) and the beast (male growling)" vocals, alongside Theatre of Tragedy and the aforementioned Tristania. Now rather being entirely reliant on both vocal styles in every song, they alternate from that mix to pure clean ethereal tracks and heavier songs that lean close to growling death-doom.

The former category especially shines in the opening track "Restless". Although it's generally female-fronted gothic metal, it foreshadows the pop-ish symphonic metal of their subsequent releases. It still sounds quite fresh even when it's from nearly 3 decades ago. The vocals by Sharon den Adel sound so beautiful. Greatly executed even when sounding a little poppy at times. That has helped make the song a true highlight, and considering how popular it became as the album's sole single, no wonder Sharon became the sole vocalist. I enjoy the male growls by guitarist Robert Westerholt as well though, which first appear in the title track. Now this one surpasses the previous track as the greatest gem of the album, possibly of death-doom-tinged gothic metal. In fact, I think that song was my first ever experience that kind of sound. Back then, I was a power metal-loving teen, and that track just blew me the f*** away with its slow symphonic darkness that I didn't enjoy until then. And besides opening my ears to gothic metal and death-doom, the rest of the band's material would pave the way to me enjoying other symphonic metal bands including Nightwish and Therion.

"Pearls of Light" follows as the second symphonic gothic metal ballad led by Sharon den Adel. I still enjoy the sh*t out of the first couple tracks to this day, but this one? NAH. The quality has gone down to a bit of an inconsistent level. "Deep Within" is just melodic death-doom. None of Sharon's singing at all, just growls by Robert Westerholt and Orphanage vocalist George Oosthoek. However, it sounds a bit too generic. "Gatekeeper" is more dramatic in the music. I can give it some great points for that.

"Grace" seems to drone on a bit despite being shorter than most of the other tracks. Sharon's vocals sound closer to what she would go for in the next album Mother Earth as well as their cover of "Running Up That Hill" by Kate Bush. But then we have the weak and pointless interlude "Blooded". That one could've been shorter or ditched entirely. Luckily, the true saving grace is the strong ending track "Candles". The blending of heaviness and melody in a slow waltzing pace has kept me awake after those poor earlier tracks. I kinda wish it could've been placed earlier in the album so I wouldn't have to sit through them all during a full listening round of the album.

All in all, Enter marked Within Temptation's entrance to the world with their one-off exploration into doomy gothic metal sound, as opposed to their well-known symphonic metal. Any symphonic gothic metal fan would consider it one of the best in the genre, but while I still think there's some greatness in this offering, it just doesn't sound as strong as I thought it was all those years ago, particularly in some tracks. At least there would be more consistency and talent shown in Mother Earth and beyond....

Favorites: "Restless", "Enter", "Gatekeeper", "Candles"

Ok, so it'll shock approximately no one that 1997's "Enter" debut from Dutch gothic doom metal exponents Within Temptation wasn't for me but perhaps not for the reasons that many of you might suspect. I did hear bits of Within Temptation back in their early days but never paid a lot of attention to them given that my taste in metal was on the polar opposite end of the metal spectrum & that's still essentially the case. I mean, despite the link to the gothic doom metal movement, "Enter" isn't all that far away from the band's later symphonic metal label given that around half of the tracklisting would likely qualify for that tag when examined in isolation. Sure, the strongest element at play & the most comfortable way to pigeonhole "Enter" is via the gothic metal subgenre but there sure is a lot of synth work going on around it. Also, any metal fan worth their studded battle vest would be remiss to overlook the fact that the majority of the riffage is based purely on 1990's death doom metal &, given the inclusion of cookie monster vocals in roughly half of the tracklisting, it's no surprise that "Enter" is often linked with doom metal.

Surprisingly, the female vocals of Sharon den Adel are the clear highlight of the album for me & I definitely prefer the sections where she takes centre-stage whilst accompanied by predominantly clean instrumentation. The more extreme end of Within Temptation's sound was still very much an evolving concept at the time & is far less convincing here. In fact, the musicianship on display is a significant stumbling block for me given that the instrumentalists were so clearly still learning their craft, particularly the guitarists who suffered from a poor production job & aren't exactly convincing with their re-enactments of these slow-paced & simple doom riffs. Keyboardist Martijn Westerholt also struggles for timing on occasion &, more often than not, his chosen synthesizers sound pretty dated too. This isn't an attractive look given my pre-existing repulsion towards synth-driven metal. And finally, the death growls of guitarist Robert Westerholt rank relatively poorly when compared with other half-decent cookie monster wannabes.

So it might sound like there's really not all that much going for "Enter" & that's true to an extent however I still find myself enjoying a good half of the eight tracks included & that enjoyment inevitably lines up with the tracks that utilize less of the synthesizers & death growls & more of Sharon's sweet vocal lines. There's no doubt that Within Temptation cross the line into being over-dramatic a little too often for my liking but when they hit on something with a little more maturity about it I find myself struggling to maintain my general feeling of apathy. One can tell that there are some good ideas in there somewhere but the band are still a little too green to know what to do with them. Then there are a couple of real shockers in "Gatekeeper" & "Blooded" which see me genuinely struggling to keep from offloading a cringe-faced look of revulsion.

Ultimately, there's little doubt that I'm not the target audience for a record like "Enter" but, at the same time, there are far too many flaws for it to overcome here & I can't see myself returning to the album any time soon.

Enter: a completely different beast from what everyone knows Within Temptation for today.

Within Temptation has made quite the name for themselves with their very accessible, alternative-tinged brand of symphonic metal. Most fans going back to this first release of theirs would be shocked by its drastic stylistic difference, however. Enter showcases a sound that is very similar to that of 90s beauty-and-the-beast metal pioneers Theatre of Tragedy: a melodic yet very melancholy blend of death and gothic doom metal. Heavy riffs and dark melodic leads abound on this album, along with symphonic keywork that is significantly more haunting than anything they would have on subsequent releases of theirs. Another big difference here, that I mentioned just earlier, is the inclusion of prominent growled vocals by guitar player (and future husband of lead vocalist Sharon) Robert Westerholt. His vocals sometimes even take the forefront over Sharon, with the track "Deep Within" not featuring Sharon whatsoever. Sharon is mostly the lead voice on here, regardless, and Robert's harsh vocals compliment Sharon's beautiful timbre very well.

All in all, this is what was a very different band from the one we would come to know by the name Within Temptation. Performances of songs off of this album during the band's live shows are exceedingly rare these days as they've moved past this style completely, forging their own identity for good. Still, this is a very good album in the same vein as early Theatre of Tragedy, and though it's not their most inventive and catchy, it's certainly one of their best anyway.

8/10