Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt.

Bleed Out, their latest studio effort, was released on 20 October 2023, and contains influences from metalcore and djent, alongside hints from their initial gothic metal inclinations.

[16] Westerholt then joined with den Adel in forming a doom metal band called "The Portal", including former The Circle band members Jeroen van Veen on bass guitar and Michiel Papenhove on guitar, as well as Martijn Westerholt on the keyboard and Dennis Leeflang on drums (later replaced by Ivar de Graaf).

[8] The sound of Enter, whilst melodic, was doomily paced, and influenced by gothic doom metal, heavily reliant on slow keyboards and drums and repetitive guitar riffs.

They bolstered this by embarking on a major international tour supporting Paradise Lost in 2003 and re-releasing Mother Earth on the GUN Records label across more European countries; it was a success in Germany, where it went platinum and reached No.

The band headlined music festivals across the Netherlands, while their Mother Earth tour DVD claimed the prestigious Edison Award.

Promotion of Mother Earth in newer markets continued well into 2004 with various international festival appearances (such as M'era Luna, Rock Werchter, and Pukkelpop) and other headline gigs, which also saw the band make their UK live debut in London in September of that year.

[25] Although already being successful in Europe, it was not until 5 August 2008, that both Mother Earth and The Silent Force albums were released in the North American market for the first time, through Roadrunner Records.

Two tracks, called "The Howling" and "Sounds of Freedom", were recorded as promotion material for the video game The Chronicles of Spellborn, and the first of these opens the album.

The extended version of the "Frozen" single features an unreleased b-side, "Sounds of Freedom", as mentioned the second song written for the promotion of the computer game The Chronicles of Spellborn.

Within Temptation started their very first United States tour a few months after the European release of The Heart of Everything, supporting Lacuna Coil, and appearing alongside In This Moment, Stolen Babies, The Gathering, and Kylesa.

The trailer for the DVD (containing the entire live performance of the song "Our Solemn Hour" from the show) was released on the band's Opendisc feature on 16 July 2008.

Their song "What Have You Done" is now on the video game "Guitar Hero: World Tour" and was present on a TV promo of a Grey's Anatomy episode, "The Truth Beneath The Rose" was featured in the commercials for The Tudors, season 3, on ShowTime.

During August, the band performed at several Summer Festivals as M'era Luna and Lowlands and started an indoor tour in September, first in the North America and then crossing Europe.

[44] In early 2012, to continue promoting the album, the band started a South American tour, passing over Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Peru and Ecuador.

On 8 May 2012 Sharon den Adel and Ruud Jolie appeared on DWDD Recordings to perform an acoustic cover of Nirvana's song Smells Like Teen Spirit.

Also, we learned a lot from the in-depth analysis we needed to make on these hits, written by others, in combination with implementing our own sound and style in each new cover.

would be released as an EP, which is also set to feature 3 tracks from the upcoming album in their demo form, being them "Let Us Burn", "Silver Moonlight" and "Dog Days".

Upon making this announcement, den Adel said: "By releasing these demos we want to invite you in our home studio and show how we capture song ideas at an early stage of creating a new album.

[67] Hydra was finally released on 31 January 2014, in mainland Europe and on 4 February on North America and United Kingdom, and was met with critical and commercial success.

[72][73] The first official show happened on 26 February, in Helsinki, Finland, and the arena tour passed primarily in Europe, covering a few summer festivals.

Due to the great reception of Hydra in the United States, the band decided to tour again in North America, travelling from West to East coast and passing over twelve cities, being two in Canada and having some venues with sold out tickets.

[75] On 3 November 2017, the band changed their website and social media to display only a message announcing that a statement from Sharon den Adel would be coming soon.

After the album release, the band went back on The Resist Tour to perform fifteen concerts in North America and later on European summer festivals.

[98] The band also opened for Iron Maiden at selected European and North American dates of the Legacy of the Beast World Tour during 2022.

[110] The band's first concert with public attendance after the decrease in the pandemic infection cases took place on 29 July 2021, as one of the main acts of the Kuopio Rock open air festival, in Finland.

[111] In an interview with Audio Ink Radio, vocalist Sharon den Adel had confirmed that the band is planning to release more new music in the coming months, stating: "We've only recorded two songs, and we have a lot of demos, which are very far, so we can finish them quite quickly.

[119][120] In March 2024, Sharon den Adel came to Kyiv to create a new music video together with Alex Yarmak for the song "A Fool's Parade".

The organization stated that "the band undeniably provided the blueprint for a unique metal genre, which has inspired many and brought the sextet significant success far beyond their home country".

[127] The guitar riffs and keyboard work were also praised, as were the contrasting voices of the two lead vocalists, Sharon den Adel and Robert Westerholt.