SHARON DEN ADEL Says New WITHIN TEMPTATION Album 'Resist' Was Inspired By Urban Music

The “Everblack” podcast recently conducted an interview with frontwoman Sharon Den Adel of Dutch metallers WITHIN TEMPTATION about the band’s forthcoming studio album, “Resist”. You can listen to the entire chat below. A few excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On whether “Resist” signifies a new musical direction for WITHIN TEMPTATION:

Sharon: “That’s correct. We’ve had different influences for the new album than we had ever before. I think the influences came from the more urban scene, and it makes it that the new album really sounds different from the previous one. It’s a more groovy album than ever before because of that. We were inspired [a lot by] how they produced things, like albums and songs, but also, rhythm-wise, it’s different. It’s not like we are making urban music now; it’s more like that we use certain elements from the music to make this album. And one of the things is the rhythm and how they time things. But it’s a big change, because we were never a groovy band. And we now have a lot of groovy songs on the album and we really like it, actually.”

On whether WITHIN TEMPTATION‘s new sound is “opening new doors” for the band:

Sharon: “Yeah, I think so. If we continued the way we did with the previous album, I feel like we were not renewing ourselves enough, and I think by making this crossover, it does make it more, I don’t know, sound more modern in a way. And for us, it’s like we’ll always have our heavy guitars and our orchestration and stuff like that, maybe used in a different way this time, maybe more minimalistic and only where it’s necessary and not all over in the whole song. It works for us, because it gives more space for the guitars and riffs, and at the same time for my vocals as well. And also to sing in a different way.”

On the “modern” elements found on “Resist”:

Sharon: “Sometimes you have to dive into other scenes to get certain elements that you like from it and take it to your own kind of music and combine. It’s not like we’re making urban music, but certain things that they do and how they create sounds that makes it more bassy, like really big. It just gives an extra layer to the guitars. But it makes it more aggressive in a way, also.”

On whether she can recall the moment when she realized all of WITHIN TEMPTATION‘s hard work had paid off:

Sharon: “No. The thing is, we’ve been on a roller coaster ever since we broke through, more or less. That was in 2002. Everything just went well for us from the day that we started. It was always going through another border, another milestone. And every time there was a new milestone, we said, ‘We’re never gonna make that milestone.’ ‘Yes, we’re gonna make that milestone.’ And we were always euphoric about it. ‘Oh my God! We’ve done this! And it’s crazy.’ So we got so much further than we ever expected ourselves to get. We were a metal band. And at the time that we started, there were no examples for us in the Netherlands that we could look up to and say, ‘Okay, we could make a living out of this.’ It’s just a hobby that got out of hand. But we did always have a vision of how we wanted to be and what we wanted to present onstage and always invested a lot in the band, first having our day jobs and then all the money that we earned went into the band again, playing every weekend. So it’s been a roller coaster. And I must say that’s also one of the reasons why it took a long time for us to write a new album. Because we had to look back a little bit after so many years — like, 23 years, more or less. Looking back on our career and just saying, ‘Okay. Phew. It’s been a hell of a ride. Where do we go from here?’ And that was also a reason — because we had writer’s block, all of us. We didn’t really know where to go with the band. And I [did] a solo album called MY INDIGO. So there was a lot of things happening in the last five years to deal with all the beautiful things but also the low points that we went through. Because we never took the time for that. And that’s the reason why it took so long to write this album. We all passed the writer’s block gradually and started writing for WITHIN TEMPTATION. And you never know what comes out. Like a box of chocolates. Like Forrest Gump says, ‘You never know what you’re gonna get.’ And the same thing with music. You start something, you go into the studio, you have ideas that you wanna write about, but it’s just ideas. You never know, in the end, what it will be, what you get. Sometimes it was for my own project, it was a MY INDIGO song. And another day, it was a WITHIN TEMPTATION song. And then you don’t even know if it’s gonna be a good song or not — you can’t tell at the moment that you’re writing. But you can only tell a week after or even longer. Because it needs to sink in and you need to get used to it. That’s how it goes.”

“Resist” will be released on February 1. It is the band’s first release through Spinefarm Records, the specialist hard rock label of Universal Music Group.

“Resist” will feature guest appearances by PAPA ROACH‘s Jacoby Shaddix, IN FLAMES‘ Anders Fridén and ARID‘s Jasper Steverlinck.