During a press conference at this year’s Hellfest in Clisson, France, WITHIN TEMPTATION frontwoman Sharon Den Adel spoke about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to the band’s 2023 album “Bleed Out”. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): ”It’s very in the early stage still, so I’m not a hundred percent sure how it will eventually end up. But we’re trying new stuff again. Although maybe for people outside — the audience and fans and media — it doesn’t look like huge steps we’ve made, but if you compare our latest album to our first, we have made some different changes musically, and for the next album, we’ll make a quite radical new change again — for us anyway. Hopefully you’ll see the same thing and will appreciate it. We’ll have to see.”
Last month, Sharon told Ukrainian metalhead Vladyslav Stadnyk, who goes by the name Metal Pilgrim, that she and her bandmates had “already starting writing” material for their next album. “There’s enough to write about,” she explained. “And we’re really enjoying it. We’re gonna take our time for it, because it’s gonna be really a new sound again for the band and everybody needs to adjust a little bit.”
After noting that WITHIN TEMPTATION has seemingly shifted its focus in recent years from writing about personal emotions and societal subjects to tackling global injustices and reflecting the tumultuous state of the world, Metal Pilgrim asked Sharon if she thinks the band’s next album will feature similar lyrical themes. She responded: “I think we’ve always done that also before, but maybe we were more metaphorical and not as clear about the subjects we chose and what we wrote about. It’s hard to go back again, how we did it before this. So, yeah, I think so, but we’re not there yet. The album’s not finished yet, so it’s difficult to say what we’re gonna do eventually, but, yeah, probably there will be a lot still in there.”
This past February, Sharon spoke to the “Everblack” podcast about WITHIN TEMPTATION‘s constant musical evolution, saying: “The fire hasn’t died, so, yes, we do try to continue and develop. But I think that’s what’s always been inspirational to us — not to do the same thing over and over and make that even better, but it’s more, like, to finalize that or something, but more like trying new things. I think that’s what makes our blood stream, makes it boil, and we can’t wait to do the next thing. But I also admire people who can make their style a certain art and make it perfect or somehow. But it’s for us anyway. We always wanna do something new again.”
WITHIN TEMPTATION has eight studio albums under its belt, all accounting for more than four million record sales.
Prior to the release of “Bleed Out”, WITHIN TEMPTATION shifted its focus from putting out albums to releasing a series of singles, enabling the bandmembers to indulge themselves into their creative processes with no production or time restraint and release new music within a heartbeat, resulting in both the band and fans always being on the forefront of newly inspired music.
WITHIN TEMPTATION‘s work has received numerous international awards, including a World Music Award, MTV Europe Music Awards, a Metal Hammer Award and many more, as well as millions of streams on their hit songs such as breakthrough song “Ice Queen”, “Paradise (What About Us?)” (featuring Tarja Turunen) and a collaboration with Jacoby Shaddix of PAPA ROACH on “The Reckoning”.
WITHIN TEMPTATION has previously headlined all the major festivals in Europe — Download, Hellfest, Wacken Open Air, Graspop Metal Meeting and Woodstock Poland — among other major events. During the lockdown, WITHIN TEMPTATION achieved great success with its virtual event “The Aftermath”, a spectacular online show that, thanks to the very latest technology, allowed the band to stretch the boundaries of reality.
Photo credit: Tim Tronckoe
