Within Temptation has grown in fifteen years from underground gothic metal pioneers from modest Waddinxveen to a thoroughbred rock machine of international stature. Appropriate for a band of that stature are the excellent live DVDs that the group regularly releases with. This DVD consists of two concerts, one recorded in Antwerp (November 13, 2012) and one show in the Heineken Music Hall (May 3,
… 2014). For the Belgian performance, the group is assisted by the 75-piece Il Novecento Orchestra, which immediately delivers its calling card with the intro and the overwhelming opening track Iron. Sharon den Adel's entrance, out of a kind of cocoon, is just as spectacular. Descending into a cloud of smoke and fire, she looks like a noblewoman from a strange solar system. Yet it is not only bombast that the clock strikes. The lighter ballad Say My Name is a beautiful resting point for which Den Adel also dresses up a little less eccentric (a tasteful blue dress is sufficient). Compared to the Antwerp show, the one in Amsterdam is more straightforward. Without guests, Within Temptation plays a convincing rocking set. The concerts can also be heard on the two extra CDs. (PdK)more
