Within Temptation
The Silent Force

THE REVIEW

What a disappointment! After the beautiful "Mother Earth," I was expecting another CD of the same quality. Despite the excellent production (budgets are no longer what they were with "Enter"), and the use of a real Russian orchestra, "The Silent Force" fails to take off: leaving behind the fairytale atmospheres of the second platter, the sextet offers us music that is decidedly unvaried, uninspired, cold, and boring.
The music seems like a mix between the orchestrations of Nightwish (see "Once"), which are decidedly less successful compared to those of the Finnish group, and the guitars of Evanescence. The only thing that has improved is Sharon's singing. Gone are the days when the group's fans struggled to find their idols' CDs: now the band is acclaimed and famous all over Europe.

After a symphonic intro, the first proper track, "See Who I Am," begins, which is really too catchy and boring. "Jillian" is certainly more enjoyable even though it doesn't stand above the average compositions of this genre. "Stand My Ground" really seems like a piece from Amy Lee's band, despite the orchestrations. "Pale" is a ballad where the Celtic taste of Mother Earth is regained, while "Forsaken" starts with beautiful orchestrations only to get lost later, "Angels" is a pleasant track but Sharon's voice almost comes off as annoying. "Memories" is the best track of the CD: a beautiful piano for a very engaging piece. "Aquarius" is a hyper-banal track with an intro "borrowed" from Epica. "It's a Fear" is another track inspired by Evanescence, but actually proves to be pleasant. The CD closes with the ballad "Somewhere."

In summary, a boring CD. Actually, the rating would be a 2 ½ but I want to penalize the band: if this result had been achieved by a band on their first album, it would have been a decent outcome, but we are talking about Within Temptation, a band that has previously shown class and talent.
Failed!