Enter (Within Temptation album)

Last updated

Enter
WT - Enter albumcover.jpg
Studio album by
Within Temptation
Released7 April 1997
Recorded1997
StudioStudio Moskou, Utrecht, Netherlands
Genre
Length45:46
Label DSFA
Producer
Within Temptation chronology
Enter
(1997)		 Mother Earth
(2000)
Singles from Enter
  1. "Restless"
    Released: 7 April 1997
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Blabbermouth.net 7.5/10 [2]
Chronicles of Chaos Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 7/10 [4]
Metal Hammer (GER)6/7 [5]

Enter is the debut studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, released by DSFA Records in 1997. After the band became more widely known in foreign markets, it was released by the independent label Season of Mist in North America in 2007, and re-printed by Nuclear Blast in 2014. It was produced by Lex Vogelaar, founder of the Dutch death metal band Orphanage, and had to recorded, completed and mixed within three weeks.

Contents

The album prominently features lead singer Sharon den Adel's vocals as well as guitarist Robert Westerholt's gruff death metal growls. It is considered a gothic metal release with elements from doom metal, and the lyrics focus mostly on dark and supernatural themes. The track "Restless" was released as the first and only single. Although the album failed to achieve commercial success at the time of its release, it entered the Dutch Charts in 2002 after the commercial success of the band's following album.

Recording

One week after they signed with DSFA Records, Within Temptation started recording Enter. The tracks on the album were new versions of the tracks that had appeared on Within Temptation's demos. It was recorded in Studio Moskou, Utrecht, and it was completed and mixed within three weeks. [6]

Robert Westerholt remembers that "it was incomparable to the first recordings we did earlier, this one was much more professional. After all a nice experience, but a very quick one. 'Enter' was recorded in two weeks and mixed in three days, so it was very difficult for we couldn't take time to develop songs. But it was a nice experience - it was our first album!" [6] Vocalist Sharon den Adel recalls that "I only had one and a half days to record my parts and it was quite hectic, just a short warm-up and then 'Go'!" [6] Lex Vogelaar, founder of the Dutch death metal band Orphanage, supplied the guitar parts for the track "Pearls of Light". Orphanage vocalist George Oosthoek performed some of the growls on "Deep Within". [7]

Style

The album's style "sits between gothic metal and doom" [1] and is very instrumental compared to the band's later works. Many of the songs have longer instrumental sections and fewer lyrics. On several songs Westerholt provides growling (in contrast to later albums on which it is rarely used). The lyrics focus on darkness, ghosts, and wars instead of the more common fantasy, love, and nature-centred lyrics found on later albums.

Future of the album

Although it didn't enter the Dutch albums chart in its release year, Enter eventually rose to No. 32 in 2002, after the great success of the song "Ice Queen". [8] The album, along with The Dance were re-released in the US on 18 September 2007 by the label Season of Mist. After the great reception of later albums and the Hydra World Tour, Nuclear Blast decided to release a together re-issue of both Enter and The Dance on 10 November 2014, in order to give the new listeners access to the band's early material. [9] By the end of 2018, the band released the album for the first time on vinyl format. It then entered the Dutch Vinyl Charts on number 6. [10]

Live history

Songs from Enter were played live during Within Temptation's shows between 1997 and 1998. After that, only "Restless", "Enter" and "Deep Within" were played regularly during the Mother Earth Tour.

As of 2004, songs from the album Enter are not performed regularly anymore by Within Temptation. The title track and "Candles" were performed at the major concert at the Java Island in Amsterdam during The Silent Force Tour. "Enter" was last played at London in 2005, but "Candles" was played a few times in 2006 and at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp on 9 May 2012, during the 15-year anniversary concert "Elements"; the concert was released in November 2014 as part of the Blu-Ray/CD set called Let Us Burn – Elements & Hydra Live in Concert .

The only single from the album, "Restless", was performed again a few times during The Heart of Everything World Tour in 2007, being performed at shows in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK throughout October and November, and also the 2007 Fanclub Day in July. It was played once in Brazil in 2008 and then on the band's Sanctuary Theater Tour in 2012. At the eleventh version of the Metal Female Voices Fest, in October 2013, former Within Temptation member Martijn Westerholt, nowadays with Delain, played the song live with Sharon den Adel as a guest vocalist.

Track listing

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Restless"
6:08
2."Enter"
  • R. Westerholt
  • den Adel
  • Richard Willemse
7:15
3."Pearls of Light"
  • R. Westerholt
  • den Adel
  • Willemse
5:15
4."Deep Within" (feat. George Oosthoek)
  • R. Westerholt
  • den Adel
4:30
5."Gatekeeper"
  • R. Westerholt
  • den Adel
6:43
6."Grace"
  • R. Westerholt
  • den Adel
5:10
7."Blooded" (instrumental)R. Westerholt3:38
8."Candles"
  • R. Westerholt
  • den Adel
7:07
Total length:45:46
Japanese edition bonus track
No.TitleLength
9."Restless" (classical version)5:39
Total length:51:25

Personnel

Within Temptation

Additional musicians

Production

Charts

Chart (2002)Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [11] 32

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Within Temptation</span> Dutch symphonic metal band

Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other influences outside these genres. Their most prominent and well-known sound is described as symphonic metal, although their earlier material, such as debut album Enter, was mostly gothic metal, with Enter also having a hint of doom metal. In an interview, den Adel said they fell into a symphonic rock genre with various influences. In another interview, den Adel stated that "We consider ourselves more an atmospheric melodic symphonic metal/rock band... In my opinion, we are not a gothic band but we have gothic elements".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharon den Adel</span> Dutch singer

Sharon Janny den Adel is a Dutch singer who is the lead vocalist and one of the main songwriters of the symphonic metal band Within Temptation. She has been a performing musician since the age of 14, and is a founding member of Within Temptation, along with Robert Westerholt, in 1996. She was also elected to be the Dutch chairperson of the jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2018.

<i>Mother Earth</i> (Within Temptation album) 2000 studio album by Within Temptation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Westerholt</span> Musical artist

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<i>The Silent Force</i> 2004 studio album by Within Temptation

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<i>The Silent Force Tour</i> (album)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ice Queen (song)</span> 2001 single by Within Temptation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Heart of Everything World Tour</span> 2007–08 concert tour by Within Temptation

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Silent Force Tour (Within Temptation)</span> 2004–06 concert tour by Within Temptation

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<i>Resist</i> (Within Temptation album) 2019 studio album by Within Temptation

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References

  1. 1 2 "Within Temptation - Enter review". Metal Storm . Retrieved 9 June 2016. The album sits between gothic metal and doom
  2. ↑ Van Horn jr., Ray (2015). "Within Temptation - Enter & The Dance". Blabbermouth.net . Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Bromley, Adrian (5 May 1997). "Within Temptation - Enter". Chronicles of Chaos . Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 503. ISBN   978-1-894959-62-9.
  5. ↑ "Within Temptation - Enter review". Metal Hammer . Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 allthememories.org https://web.archive.org/web/20130727193337/http://allthememories.org/albums/Scans/Magazine%20Scans/Starfacts/SCAN0680.JPG. Archived from the original on 27 July 2013.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. ↑ Enter (CD Booklet). Within Temptation. Vlissingen, The Netherlands: DSFA Records DSFA 1007. 1997.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  8. ↑ "Within Temptation - Enter (album)". Dutch Charts.nl. Media Control Charts. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  9. ↑ "Within Temptation's 1997 Debut Enter; 1998 Ep The Dance To Be Reissued". Bravewords.com. Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  10. ↑ "Within Temptation - Enter".
  11. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Within Temptation – Enter" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
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