Live Review: Within Temptation - Cologne 2018

Palladium, Cologne, Germany
19th November 2018
Within Temptation - “Resist” Germany Tour 2018 - Special Guests: Ego Kill Talent

This news must have come as a relief to fans: Dutch Symphonic Metal icons WITHIN TEMPTATION embarked on a massive European tour during the fall of 2018, bringing them back to Cologne for the first time since April 2014.


Ego Kill Talent

As an opener, WITHIN TEMPTATION brought Brazilian Rock band EGO KILL TALENT with them on tour. EGO KILL TALENT was formed back in 2014 by members of several Brazilian bands, among them SEPULTURA. The band released their self-titled debut album in 2017 and appeared on a lot of festival line-ups. Check out https://www.facebook.com/egokilltalent or www.egokilltalent.com for more information about the band.



Music & Performance
The venue was already quite full when EGO KILL TALENT began their set around 8pm. The five-piece band started off with the song ‘Just To Call You Mine’ from their debut album. Their music can best be described as Alternative Rock with at times quite complex rhythm patterns and seriously down-tuned guitars. Singer Jonathan Correa tried to address the audience with a few German words, but the crowd did not get what he wanted to say, so he switched back to English. Generally, the reaction from the crowd during the forty-minute set was rather mute. Probably most people who came here to see WITHIN TEMPTATION did not appreciate the raw version of rock from EGO KILL TALENT. Some even went as far as to scream ‘Goodbye’ during the song breaks. However, this was by no means justified (and pretty annoying tbh), as the band did their best to deliver an energetic performance. So hopefully, they will be luckier with their next support slot on future tours.



Setlist
01. Just To Call You Mine
02. Sublimated
03. We All
04. Old Love And Skulls
05. Heroes, Kings And Gods
06. My Own Deceiver
07. Still Here
08. Last Ride
09. Try (There Will Be Blood)

Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 6
Sound: 6
Light: 5
Total: 5.8 / 10

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Within Temptation

The symphonic metal-band WITHIN TEMPTATION has been around since the mid 90ies and has released six studio albums since then. The seventh record, ‘Resist’, is about to be released in full in February 2019. www.resist-temptation.com / https://www.facebook.com/wtofficial

Music & Performance
The changeover lasted slightly longer than expected, as audience members had to wait for forty minutes, before the room fell dark, and a spherical intro announced the start of the set. Once the stage lights came on, it became clear that all the waiting paid off, since the light revealed a huge stage production with a mountain-like landscape, containing several pods for the musicians and a huge projection display in the back.



Singer Sharon den Adel came onto the stage, wearing a white robe and waving a huge white flag bearing the band’s logo with the three rings, while singing the song ‘Raise Your Banner’ from the new upcoming album. The band continued with new material and played the already released single ‘Reckoning’ much to the delight of the crowd. Sharon used a song break to inform the audience about the current score of the match between Germany and The Netherlands. Baffled by the mute reaction, she jokingly welcomed people to have a ‘really’ good time at the tonight’s concert. In terms of the set list, WITHIN TEMPTATION clearly put a lot of emphasis on the new album, as the band played five songs from ‘Resist’. Two more albums also dominated the set list with four songs each: the 2011 ‘Forgiving’ and the 2007 ‘The Heart of Everything’.



The approx. 3,500 fans seemed to like the selection, as they cheered the band frenetically during ballads, such as ‘Ice Queen’, which had singer Sharon perform the song just accompanied by an acoustic guitar, as well as poppier songs such as ‘Shot in the Dark’. After 90 minutes, the band closed their set with the encore ‘Stairway to the Skies’, and fans had witnessed a fascinating show featuring mesmerizing video projections, costume changes, and a huge stage production all on top of the music.

Setlist
01. Raise Your Banner
02. The Reckoning
03. Endless War
04. In the Middle of the Night
05. Stand My Ground
06. All I Need
07. Supernova
08. Shot in the Dark
09. The Promise
10. Ice Queen (Acoustic arrangement from Jasper Steverlinck’s cover on Liefde voor Muziek)
11. Faster
12. Mercy Mirror
13. Paradise (What About Us?)
14. The Heart of Everything
15. What Have You Done
16. Forgiven
17. Mother Earth
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18. Stairway to the Skies

Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 8 / 10

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All pictures by Andreas Gey (Kommodore Johnsen)