Within Temptation
London Brixton Academy
11th November, 2011

A double dose of Dutch symphonic metal with a pop icing, starting with ex-The Gathering’s Anneke Van Giersbergen and her four-piece flying through six numbers in half an hour, including staples from her former band such as the chugging Saturnine, albeit with a chart bent. Within Temptation followed for a 16-song, 90-minute spectacular, gothy films and stunning lighting setting off the costume-shifting Sharon Den Adel as she led the troops through catalogue classics like the opening Abba-gone-metal of Shot In The Dark and the up-tempo, lick-laden In The Middle Of The Night. Fairytale atmospherics came to the fore on the piano-led Fire And Ice, the chantalong Ice Queen should be heard by the Bond film producers, and Our Solemn Hour was anything but, getting the masses singing. The radio-friendly Sinead led into the catchy What Have You Done? (which by rights should have them at Evanescence levels in the US), and encores included the strident See Who I Am and regal, Celtic-tinged Mother Earth.