Tuesday, April 05, 2011

I see a rainbow rising

The unforgiving

Within Temptation

I’ve followed WT since The heart of everything, and love the Black Symphony recording to bits. But what might they do after something as dazzling as BS? The new album left me confused at first. I loved the sound from the beginning, but just couldn’t place it. Plus, I didn’t quite know what to make of the expanded videoclips (which they somewhat grandiosely call “movies”), where a figure called Mother Maiden brings people back from the dead to “put wrongs right”. I wasn’t sure I actually needed that. While I like the dark moods underlying much of their work, I don’t have to have it spelt out who killed whom and why. There’s enough darkness to go round for all, anyway.

Then, suddenly, it all fell into place. Listening to the track no. 6, Iron, for something like the 27th time, I realised that Mother Maiden had accidentally resurrected Ronnie James Dio, and the band now aimed at reviving the elegiac anthem sound produced by Rainbow when Dio was their singer (I actually saw them live, back in the last century!) . And guess what, it works amazingly well. Other tracks with Rainbowesque qualities include Iron, Where is the edge, and A demon’s fate – well I guess if I were to analyse it in detail, it would be most of the album.

I’m firmly expecting a holographic rainbow rising above the stage on their next tour. But it’s all good, I still love the album, even though the Rainbow memories now make me chuckle at times.



amazon.co.uk

PS: the short video of the first single, "Faster" is here - this one also comes with a Rainbowesque chorus.

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