Track Listing

1. Howling
2. What Have You Done - Within Temptation & Keith Caputo
3. Frozen
4. Our Solemn Hour
5. Heart Of Everything
6. Hand Of Sorrow
7. Cross
8. Final Destination
9. All I Need
10. Truth Beneath The Rose
11. Forgiven

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #7211 in Music
• Released on: 2007-03-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Enhanced

Amazon.co.uk Review
Dutch rockers Within Temptation have surpassed themselves with The Heart of Everything. Never a band known for understatement, this is by far their biggest and best album yet, 11 epic tracks that are impressively grandiose and proudly hyperbolic. Where other bands would be content with a string section, Within Temptation incorporate an entire orchestra (plus a choir). In addition, they also sample the sounds of machine guns, explosions, car crashes and even Winston Churchill. Complemented by Sharon den Adel's impressive vocal range, it all works spectacularly, evoking imagery of men on horseback wielding axes. Each song is a mini-saga, from "The Howling" with its suggestions of Middle Earth battlefields to the anti-war "Our Solemn Hour", which features a Latin chorus, "Sanctus espiritus," taken from Roman Catholic mass. Only the radio-friendly and relatively understated ballads "All I Need" and "Forgiven" sound out of place, (though the orchestra still features on the former). Fortunately, everything else on The Heart of Everything sounds like barbarian soundtrack music. Which is to say that this is a proper heavy metal music. --Ted Kord

Customer Reviews

bring your own hobbit
This recording is another installment of fairytale, bring-your-own-hobbit-type fantasy metal. If you like that kind of thing (and I do) then Within Temptation are the best of the genre. If you don't, this will grate unbearably. It will also - unsurprisingly - please fans of their earlier work, being much the same but done with a bigger budget.

The songwriting is mature and varied, and they are skilled musicians. The main assets of the band however, are the divine voice and physical beauty of Sharon Den Adel. These are put to their best use in the songs and videos respectively, as amply demonstrated by this release.

Outstanding
I only recently got into WT after seeing them support Iron Maiden at Twickenham and this was the first album I bought. It is quite simply brilliant. Comparisoms with Evenescence are unwarrented as WT are in a different league. This album is an excellent place to start but the earlier ones are brilliant as well (especially Mother Earth). the music also transcends the generations as all my 3 teenage boys have become WT fans as well has many of their freinds at school. Buy this album if you have any interest in melodic rock - you won't be disappointed.

GOOD VOCALS, MUSIC IS A LITTLE BIT NU METAL......
This reminds me of Nightwish's last album but in reverse! Here the vocals are excellent and the music a little underwhelming, whereas Dark Passion Play is superb re instrumentation but that Annette lass is dire.
What really strikes me is that no instrument ever stands out; the guitar and bass riffs are very simple and almost sound synthetic, the drums stay at the same tempo and could easily be programmed, and I've heard more adventurous keyboard work than this. It reminds me of Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory in that it sounds almost like a background to the vocals, and almost machine like, with no outstanding riffs or solos.
At least there is some nice orchestral accompaniment but nothing matching the majesty of Therion or Nightwish.
It's just too lightweight and radio friendly all round!
I only wish Nightwish could have bagged Sharon Adel for DPP, as this girl is a terrific singer, and wasted on these average tunes.
On the plus side, the production is decent (in a film score kind of way) and the opening track, The Howling is a killer to be fair!
I preferred The Silent Force to this as it was slightly heavier and more symphonic, with better tunes. If you want the heavier female fronted sound, I would really recommend Epica's Divine Conspiracy.