/ Vertigo)
Total Playing Time: 47:35
Almost five years after their last album “Hydra”, one of the most controversial bands in Symphonic Metal returns, having already the merit of contaminating the genre in the most unlikely ways, especially with the aforementioned mentioned “Hydra” (emblematic is the song “And We Run”, which features the presence of the rapper X-Zibit).
The album opens with the launch single “The Reckoning”, which features the participation of Jacoby Shaddix of PAPA ROACH, a song contaminated by electronics and pop. With “Endless War” we enter the dynamics that characterize the album: on the one hand the modern and electronic elements, on the other a return to certain solemn, almost apocalyptic atmospheres, reminiscent of the 2007 album “The Heart Of Everything”. In all “Resist” the symphonic and choral element is definitely developed compared to the two previous albums. Sharon Den Adel demonstrates a vocal versatility never reached before, alternating a very expressive singing in full voice with a more classical setting that will surely be appreciated by longtime fans.
The figure of the album is precisely this recovery of old elements, typical of the most dramatic symphonic metal, but flanked by electronics and pop/modern vocal lines. Some pieces are faster, almost dancing, for example “Holy Ground” and “Mad World”, however they do not lack a very melancholic, sometimes angry mood. On an even softer side we find “Firelight”, with the participation of Jasper Steverlinck, and “Mercy Mirror”, perhaps the most pop song of the album.
And the metal, in all this? The “real” metal is totally absent; occasionally some riffs emerge, like in the final “Trophy Hunter” (perhaps the most “metal” piece on the album) and a guitar solo in “Raise Your Banner”, but if you look for guitars and metal drums, this album has nothing to do with them.
I remember when I first met WITHIN TEMPTATION through their “Mother Earth” album. Sorry to say that but, although their good production and probably good music in general, “Resist” lies far from my standards of a metal album.
Thus, since I can’t evaluate them, having no experience on the music they play anymore, I can only say that personally, I got tired from their new album.
4/10
Fanouris Exintavelonis
