The Unforgiving

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The Unforgiving
The Unforgiving album cover.jpg
Studio album by
Released29 March 2011
RecordedApril–December 2010
StudioThe Metal Cemetery,
Power Sound Studio, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Genre
Length53:41
Label Dragnet/Sony (Europe)
Roadrunner (US and Japan)
Producer
  • Daniel Gibson
  • Stefan Helleblad
Within Temptation chronology
The Heart of Everything
(2007)
The Unforgiving
(2011)
The Q-Music Sessions
(2013)
Singles from The Unforgiving
  1. "Faster"
    Released: 21 January 2011
  2. "Sinéad"
    Released: 15 July 2011
  3. "Shot in the Dark"
    Released: 9 September 2011

The Unforgiving is the fifth studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, released by Roadrunner Records on 29 March 2011. [3] It was a concept album as one part of a transmedia storytelling project, which accompanied the release of three short films and a series of six comic books. The album followed the band's pattern of incorporating new musical elements on each release, this time marking a major transition point for the band and featuring more pop and 80s influences. Lyrically, the band focused on telling a story with specific characters, also present in the films and comic books.

Contents

Three singles were released for promoting the album. "Faster", the leading single, was released on 21 January 2011. The second single was "Sinéad", released on 21 March. The third and final one, "Shot in the Dark" was released on 12 September. Each single accompanied a short film in order to visually describe the story being told. The group also commenced The Unforgiving Tour in Europe by the middle of 2011. The tour later passed over North America and Latin America for a total amount of 111 concerts.

The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, and the composition, storytelling and musical changes were the most discussed points. Reviewers from Big Cheese and sputnikmusic were welcoming of the changes presented by the band and congratulated the transmedia effort, while Kerrang! and Q magazine had some regards with the topics. The album also achieved commercial success, entering top ten positions in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Germany and Austria.

Concept

Early ideas, realisation and development

The initial concept was to write the soundtrack to a film. The band decided to change direction given the inconsistencies and other issues which movies can undergo. As vocalist Sharon den Adel commented: [4]

"What happened was that we wanted to write lyrics for a movie. We were searching for a good movie with a good story and everybody had different release dates. If something goes wrong, a movie can very easily be postponed for a year, and we couldn't take the chance to have to wait for that, otherwise we would have had to postpone our album as well. So we decided to take the matter in our own hands."

In searching for a new concept, they approached the writer of The Chronicles of Spellborn comics, who introduced the band to Steven O'Connell. However, upon his first meeting with the band, he failed to impress them with ideas involving zombies and fantasy, while they were hoping for a more mature approach rather than something unclear and superficial. [4] Sharon explained that, in trying to describe to O'Connell what they were looking for, [4]

"We told him what kind of movies we liked, what kind of books we read, and he thought about it and he came up with a basic idea, like 2 or 3 lines. The story is about people who have done bad things. Not because they are bad, but because they made bad decisions."

Following the formation of the initial ideas, O'Connell completed the rest of the story with additional suggestions from the band. For example, Sinéad was initially a South American woman named Maya, but, as the music to "Sinéad" had already been completed, Sharon requested that the name and nationality be changed. [4] While shooting the three short films and music videos, Mother Maiden ("Faster"), Sinéad and Triplets ("Shot in the Dark"), the band and director (Joeri Holsheimer) came up with several other ideas, among them which song would connect to which story. The band's decision to shoot three short films was mostly to avoid the restrictions imposed on music videos, as Sharon explained: [4]

"...we wanted to put all the money into the movies. You have a budget and then you have to make choices and, to be honest, MTV and everything, it is not so big anymore. And when you make videos, they always say "you can't use blood, you can't use guns, you can't use..." and we wanted to use everything: blood, guns... everything!"

As part of transmedia project

A comic book of the same name, released simultaneously, was written by Steven O'Connell ( BloodRayne and Dark 48) and illustrated by Romano Molenaar ( Witchblade , The Darkness and X-Men ). [5] Three related short films were released prior to the album, the first of which, "Mother Maiden", was released on 31 January 2011. The first issue of the comic books, Penance, Part One, was released on 18 March 2011, and digitally released by Diamond Digital at the New York Comic Con on 22 October. [6] The second issue, Penance, Part Two was released on 13 May. The third issue, Penance, Part Three, was released on 31 August and the fourth issue, Penance, Part Four, on 2 November. [7] [8] [9]

Background

Recording

The band first announced that they intended to make a new album in October 2008, as they were finishing touring in support of The Heart of Everything . [10] The album was originally planned to be recorded in 2009, but was further delayed by vocalist Sharon den Adel giving birth to her and guitarist Robert Westerholt's second child. In an interview with Metal Ways at Appelpop 2008, Westerholt stated that the new album was "probably going to be kind of a concept, but it's so early still that nothing is really sure yet. But we're trying to look in that direction." [11]

The album was eventually recorded in the Summer and Autumn of 2010, with the band announcing via their website in November that the album would be entitled The Unforgiving, expected for release in March 2011. The band also announced that their planned tour dates, beginning in March 2011, had been postponed till Autumn due to den Adel's third pregnancy. [12]

Previews and promotion

A video for "Where Is the Edge" was released on 15 December 2010, along with footage from the upcoming film Me and Mr Jones on Natalee Island. [13] The band also announced that the album would be released alongside a comic book series with the same name, forming a story surrounding the main protagonist, Sinéad. [5]

Members of Within Temptation giving an acoustic performance at Q Music studios Within Temptation live at Q Music.jpg
Members of Within Temptation giving an acoustic performance at Q Music studios

On 4 December Sharon commented via their official website that they had recorded three upcoming promotional music videos within the course of a week. [14] The band also revealed that, alongside the record and the comic book series, three short films were to be released prior to the album.

The first single, "Faster", had its worldwide radio première on 96.3 Rock Radio on 21 January 2011. This was followed by the release of its music video on 31 January, along with the first short film, Mother Maiden. [15] The band also announced that each of the remaining films would also accompany a band performance. An album trailer, featuring a clip of the new song "In the Middle of the Night" was released on 17 January 2011. [16]

On 3 February 2011, the first English review of the album was published by a freelance journalist online via last.fm and his blog. [17] [18] Still in February, members of Within Temptation were in Paris to promote their new album in France. A first French interview with Sharon Den Adel was published on Metal-Ways.com (in English). [4]

Sinéad, the second short film, was released on 21 March. [19] The accompanying music video was officially released on 10 June 2011 to promote the song's single of the same name, which was released on 15 July. The single differs from the others, as it includes four remixes of the track by four different dance producers. [20] The band also went to Germany to promote the single on Television. [21]

Lead vocalist Sharon den Adel during a concert in Rio de Janeiro SharonRIo.jpg
Lead vocalist Sharon den Adel during a concert in Rio de Janeiro

The band commenced The Unforgiving Tour on 10 August at the Sziget Festival, Hungary, playing a selection of songs from The Unforgiving as well as some of their more popular tracks. At the Huntenpop Festival, Netherlands, The Unforgiving was played in its entirety, as well as some older songs. Within Temptation went on to perform at several more summer festivals, such as M'era Luna and Heitere Open Air, before commencing a North American Tour and an indoor European tour in the winter. [22] [23]

On 22 September 2011, the band performed "Where Is the Edge" and "Lost" at the première of Me and Mr Jones on Natalee Island during the 31st Netherlands Film Festival, where the three The Unforgiving short-films were screened. [24]

The final short film, Triplets, was released on 1 September 2011. [25] Its accompanying music video "Shot In the Dark" was officially released on 4 October.

On 20 December, the band released their new music video, Fire and Ice. [26]

To continue promoting the album, the band started a South American tour, visiting Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Ecuador. After that, the band went back to Europe to headline several of the biggest European summer festivals, such as Sonisphere, Masters of Rock, Rock Werchter, Summerbreeze and Gods of Metal. [27] [28]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 63/100 [29]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [30]
Big Cheese Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [31]
Classic Rock Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [32]
Kerrang! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [33]
Metal Hammer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [34]
Q Star full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [35]
Rocksound 9/10 [36]
SputnikmusicStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [37]

Reviews from critics have been mostly positive, with particular praise for den Adel's voice and the band's innovative capacity. Metal Marketing commented on its "change in pace", calling it a career "turning point", but adding that it is "one of the best albums... in a long time", giving it 9.5 out of 10. [18] UK punk, rock and metal magazine, Big Cheese, were also very positive, giving it 5 out of 5 and remarking, "Every song is glorious and frontwoman Sharon den Adel truly is the star of this spectacular show." [31]

Metal Hammer were less favourable, giving the album a lower score of 7 out of 10, noting that fans of their former Celtic sound and "metallic symphonic thunder" may be disappointed, although praising the band for being "exceptional songwriters" and their shift in style, creating "an apt thriller soundtrack without losing their trademark symphonic elements." [34] Classic Rock also gave it 7 out of 10, calling it "grandstanding stuff, multi-layered, complex and rich" as well as "overblown". [32] Allmusic gave it 3.5 out of 5, stating that it "doesn't come off bombastic or overwrought" and that the band lets "the songwriting rule supreme". [30]

Kerrang! were more negative, giving it a "good" score of just 3 out of 5 and deeming it "pretty unsatisfying", while conceding it to be "flawless and expertly crafted". [33] Q gave it just 1 out of 5, the album's lowest rating, labelling the band "the metal T'Pau". [35]

The album currently holds a score of 63 at the aggregate review site Metacritic, indicating "generally favourable reviews". [29]

The Unforgiving was voted fourth and ninth in Roadrunner Records' Album of the Year and Album of the Century polls respectively. [38] [39] Metal Storm's readers awarded the album third place on its best symphonic metal albums of 2011 list and seventh on the "biggest surprise" list. [1] It was also awarded fifth place in Loudwire's list of The Top 10 Rock Albums of 2011. [40] Merlin Alderslade, from Metal Hammer, placed the album at ninth position in his top ten albums of 2011. [41]

Critics' lists

Critic/PublicationListRankRef.
Loudwire Top 10 Rock Albums of 20115 [40]
Metal Hammer Merlin Alderslade's Top 10 Albums of 20119 [41]
Metalholic50 Best Metal Albums of 20119 [42]

Accolades

YearCeremonyAwardResult
2011 Loudwire Music AwardsRock Album of the YearWon
Buma Cultuur AwardsBuma Music in MotionWon

Track listing

Standard edition
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Why Not Me"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
0:34
2."Shot in the Dark"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Daniel Gibson
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
5:02
3."In the Middle of the Night"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
5:11
4."Faster"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
4:23
5."Fire and Ice"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • den Adel
  • Spierenburg
3:57
6."Iron"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
5:40
7."Where Is the Edge"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
3:59
8."Sinéad"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • Spierenburg
4:23
9."Lost"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
5:14
10."Murder"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
4:16
11."A Demon's Fate"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • den Adel
  • Gibson
5:30
12."Stairway to the Skies"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • den Adel
  • Spierenburg
5:32
Total length:53:41
German edition / Saturn edition bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
13."The Last Dance"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Spierenburg
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Spierenburg
4:26
Total length:58:08
German Standard edition bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
13."Utopia" (featuring Chris Jones)
  • den Adel
  • Gibson
  • den Adel
  • Gibson
3:56
Total length:57:35
iTunes Store special edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
13."I Don't Wanna"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
5:03
14."The Last Dance"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Spierenburg
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Spierenburg
4:26
15."Empty Eyes"
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
3:42
Total length:66:52
Japanese edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
13."I Don't Wanna"
  • den Adel
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
5:03
14."Empty Eyes"
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
  • Westerholt
  • Gibson
3:42
Total length:62:26
Special edition DVD
No.TitleLength
1."Mother Maiden" (Short film)3:22
2."Faster" (Music video)4:23
3."Sinéad" (Short film)4:32
4."Sinéad" (Music video)4:24
5."Triplets" (Short film)5:19
6."Shot in the Dark" (Music video)5:05
7."The Making of "The Unforgiving""20:56
8."Where Is the Edge" (Promo video)4:56
9."Utopia" (Music video)3:50
10."The Unforgiving: The Prequel Comic"1:25
11."Credits"0:53
12."Facebook Names"12:06
Total length:69:11
Notes

Personnel

Within Temptation
Additional musicians

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Germany (BVMI) [76] Gold100,000
Poland (ZPAV) [77] Gold10,000*
Portugal (AFP) [78] Platinum20,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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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<i>Enter</i> (Within Temptation album) 1997 studio album by Within Temptation

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.

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

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<i>The Heart of Everything</i> 2007 studio album by Within Temptation

The Heart of Everything is the fourth studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, released by GUN Records on 12 March 2007 in Europe. It was released in North America on 18 June 2007 by Roadrunner Records. The album follows the symphonic metal sound the band had been improving and deepening until then, and is considered by lead vocalist Sharon den Adel as the album in which the band finally managed to achieve this kind of sound.

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

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<i>Black Symphony</i> 2008 live album by Within Temptation

Black Symphony is the third live album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. It was released worldwide on 22–24 September 2008 and is available on 2-disc DVD, 2-disc CD, and Blu-ray. Sony Poland announced this item to be released on 3LP. Release is due Friday 28 December 2018.

<i>An Acoustic Night at the Theatre</i> 2009 live album by Within Temptation

An Acoustic Night at the Theatre is the fourth live album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation that has been released in October–November 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Within Temptation discography</span>

Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation have released seven studio albums, five live albums, four extended plays and 26 singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Faster (Within Temptation song)</span> 2011 single by Within Temptation

"Faster" is a song by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. It was released as the first single from their fifth studio album The Unforgiving on 21 January 2011. It had its worldwide radio première on 96.3 Rock Radio on the same day. The song was produced by their longtime producer Daniel Gibson, with Stefan Helleblad and Within Temptation serving as additional producers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Unforgiving Tour</span> 2011–13 concert tour by Within Temptation

The Unforgiving World Tour was a concert tour by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation in support of their fifth studio album, The Unforgiving, released by Roadrunner Records on 25 March 2011. It was their seventh major tour and their second to see them playing worldwide. The tour commenced on 10 August 2011, at the Sziget Festival, Hungary, and finished on 8 September 2013, at the Rock'n Coke Festival, in Turkey, passing mainly over Europe, with selected concerts in North America and South America. The tour helped on solidifying the band as one of mainland Europe's most successful symphonic metal acts, as it marked a major transition from club and theater to arena concerts on the continent than the previous one. On the North and South American concerts, however, the band still opted to play at smaller capacity venues. For the band's fifteenth anniversary, they held their biggest concert to date with a special presentation at the Sportpaleis, Belgium, featuring some of the band's ex-members on older songs and other special guests. The concert was later released as part of the Let Us Burn – Elements & Hydra Live in Concert live album.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sanctuary (tour)</span> 2012 concert tour by Within Temptation

Sanctuary Tour is a concert tour, predominantly acoustic, by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation in support of their fifth studio album, The Unforgiving, released by Roadrunner Records on 25 March 2011. This is their eight tour and the third passing over theaters.

<i>Hydra</i> (Within Temptation album) 2014 studio album by Within Temptation

Hydra is the sixth studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. It was released on January 31, 2014 in Europe and on February 4, 2014 in North America. The album contains guest appearances by singer Howard Jones, rapper Xzibit, metal vocalist Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish) and alternative rock singer Dave Pirner. The first single, "Paradise ", was released on September 27, 2013, and featured Turunen as guest vocalist. The second single, "Dangerous", was released on December 20, in which Jones provided the male vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hydra World Tour</span> 2014–2016 concert tour by Within Temptation

The Hydra World Tour was a concert tour by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation in support of their sixth studio album, Hydra, released by Nuclear Blast on 31 January 2014. To date, it was their eight major tour and their third to see them playing worldwide. The tour passed over four continents and was divided into several legs according to the local of playing, presenting minor setlist variations from concerts of the same leg and a few more variations from leg to leg. A special leg was entitled "Theatres on Fire", in which saw the band playing seated shows at theatres in the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

<i>Let Us Burn – Elements & Hydra Live in Concert</i> 2014 video by Within Temptation

Let Us Burn – Elements & Hydra Live in Concert is the fifth live album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. It was released in November, 2014 and is available on 2-disc DVD, 2-disc CD, 2-disc Blu-ray and digital album. The live album features two performances, being the first one the greatest part of the band's 15th anniversary concert at the Sportpaleis, entitled Elements, and the second one the band's performance at the AFAS Live during the Hydra World Tour.

<i>My Indigo</i> (album) 2018 studio album by My Indigo

My Indigo is the debut studio album by Dutch singer and songwriter Sharon den Adel with her solo musical project My Indigo. It was released on 20 April 2018. The track listing of the debut album was released on 31 January 2018 by Within Temptation fansite DontTearMeDown.

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

Resist is the seventh studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. It was scheduled to be released worldwide on 14 December 2018, but later postponed to 1 February 2019. The album contains guest appearances by singers Jacoby Shaddix, Anders Fridén and Jasper Steverlinck (Arid) and was produced by their longtime producer Daniel Gibson. It marks the longest time gap between the band's studio releases, the last one being issued in 2014. The album followed the band's pattern of incorporating new musical elements on each release, this time featuring more electronic, pop, and industrial influences. Lyrically, the band opted to focus more on political themes, a subject not explicitly approached by them on previous records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don't Pray for Me</span> Single from Dutch symphonic metal and rock band Within Temptation

"Don't Pray for Me" is a song recorded by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. It was released worldwide as a single on 8 July 2022 via digital download and streaming and as part of an EP containing the previous three independent singles released by the band and their respective instrumental versions. A limited edition on vinyl was also released on 15 July. The song was produced by their long-time producer Daniel Gibson, with Mathijs Tieken and Within Temptation serving as additional producers.

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