Review by MartinDavey87 for Within Temptation - Enter (1997)

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.