WITHIN TEMPTATION — The Dance (review)

WITHIN TEMPTATION — The Dance album cover

EP · 1998 · Gothic Metal

2/5 · 2021-05-23
lukretion

Shortly after releasing their debut album Enter in 1997, Within Temptation made a comeback with this EP containing three new studio tracks and two remixes of songs that had originally appeared on Enter. The style of the new material is similar to what can be found on the debut LP, with the band still keeping one foot in two shoes – that of the still nascent symphonic metal genre and that of the then-burgeoning “beauty and the beast” gothic metal. If anything the dualism between these two “souls” of Within Temptation is even starker on The Dance, where doom/death sluggishness barely coexists with the band’s wild symphonic arrangements and Sharon den Adel’s Kate Bush-infused vocal histrionics.

But this is not really the main problem I have with the album. The reason why I rated it so low is that the quality of the new material is palpably inferior to any of the songs included in Enter. I strongly suspect this is essentially leftover material from the debut album, a suspicion reinforced by the fact that these tracks were recorded in the same studio where Enter was recorded and with the same lineup despite the fact that, by this time, the band had already hired a new drummer, Ciro Palma, replacing Ivar de Graaf who had played on Enter. In truth, the titletrack “The Dance” starts quite strongly, with singer Sharon den Adel soaring through some of the vocal histrionics that will become a staple of the band’s next full-length release, Mother Earth. Unfortunately, the inclusion of Robert Westerholt’s growls in the chorus feels totally unnecessary and out of place, and fails to give the song the proper climactic release that it would need. Ultimately, despite a strong start, this track fails to find its footing and meanders to a forgettable close. “Another Day” is a symphonic metal ballad in the same vein as “Pearls of Light” from Enter, only less compelling. “The Other Half (of Me)” is a mess of a song, the worst of the three new tracks. Sharon’s performance is over the top, and not in a good way as she takes her inner Kate Bush one or two steps too far. The contrast with the savage growls of Robert Westerholt is as disorientating as it is cacophonic. The song feels directionless, confused and overblown, and it comes across almost as a caricature of the band’s sound.

To make things worse, the production on all three new songs is really poor. The mixes are particularly poor, with Sharon’s voice too low in the mix of “Another Day” and the keyboard arrangements too upfront. The sound is murky and light, lacking depth, power and clarity. Why these tracks sound so poorly is a real mystery to me, as they are produced by the same team that had worked on Enter, which is instead is a polished and well-produced album.

The EP concludes with two remixes of songs from Enter, “Restless” and a medley of “Candles” and “Pearls of Light”. Both are eminently skippable. The main difference relative to the originals is the addition of some dubious sound effects: an electronic drums loop on “Restless” and eerie whooshing sounds and chugging guitars on “Candles/Pearls of Light”. These tracks are really little more than curios for die-hard fans, as the original compositions are vastly superior.

Overall, this EP feels frankly unnecessary. Die-hard fans of the band – and especially of their early sound – may find some value in the three new tracks included here. But everyone else is better off saving up their money for the two full-length albums that either precede or follow this EP.