Within Temptation's Sharon den Adel: My Life In 10 Songs
-
Loading... - Ervin Sera
- 11 Jul 2022
- 115 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Sharon den Adel emerged onto the metal scene 25 years ago with Within Temptation, lending the angelic highs of her soprano vocal range to the Dutch band’s ethereal yet heavy sound. Since then they’ve continually evolved, working with everyone from the Dutch Metropole Orchestra to hip hop legend Xzibit, but never losing the vast cinematic element of their sound. We sat down with the effervescent singer to pick through the tracks which best represent her musical journey with the band.
Candles (Enter, 1997)
“I think the most beautiful song [on Enter] is Candles. It has a romantic, dark feeling to it. We were very much inspired by all the epic movies we were watching at the time, like Braveheart, that were these big sagas. I was also reading George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire; I could disappear into those books. They gave me a lot of inspiration to write lyrics.
“It was while listening to this Paradise Lost song – Lost Paradise, I think it was – that had this opera singer on it, that the penny dropped for us. Something beautiful combined with heavy music and growling. From then, all the things we really loved listening to – Marillion, Iron Maiden, Kate Bush, Tori Amos – small elements of these all bubbled up and came out in the music.”
Ice Queen (Mother Earth, 2000)
“A lot of people got to know us through Ice Queen. Actually, it was called Believer in the beginning, but we wanted to continue the theme of Mother Earth. I don’t mind playing it for the rest of our lives. We’ve tried to make different versions of it that give it a new life and a new shine, and it’s taken many different shapes: we did an acoustic version where we tried to give it a more bluesy sound, we had Jasper Steverlinck cover it who did an amazing job, and now we’re playing the original again. I still like the song because it brings me back to my love of Nirvana – and look, I know nobody hears Nirvana in it except me. But when I’m singing it, I feel like I’m singing Nirvana! It feels like a rebellious song.”
Our Farewell (Mother Earth, 2000)
“It’s a personal song. I had a great relationship with my grandmother so after she passed away, this song was for her; that’s why it’s called Our Farewell. We had a beautiful bond; she was like a second mom. Whenever I wasn’t happy at home I’d get on my bike and ride to her house on the other side of our little village. We played it at the Elements show and at some festivals we did the song with an opera singer. She represented for me the other voice, my grandmother. It was like I was singing to her and she was singing back to me, “we’ll meet each other again”. Our spirits are connected.” Read More...
