Enter (Within Temptation album)
| Enter | ||||
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| Studio album by Within Temptation | ||||
| Released | 7 April 1997 | |||
| Recorded | November-December 1996 | |||
| Studio | Studio Moskou, Utrecht, Netherlands | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:42 | |||
| Label | DSFA | |||
| Producer | Lex Vogelaar, Within Temptation, Anthony van den Berg | |||
| Within Temptation chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Enter | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Blabbermouth.net | 7.5/10 |
| Chronicles of Chaos |   |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 7/10 |
| Metal Hammer (GER) | 6/7 |
Enter is the debut studio album by Dutch symphonic/gothic metal band Within Temptation, released by DSFA Records in 1997. The album prominently features lead singer Sharon den Adel's vocals as well as guitarist Robert Westerholt's gruff death metal growls. Lex Vogelaar, founder of the Dutch death metal band Orphanage, supplied the guitar parts for "Pearls of Light", as well as producing the album, and Orphanage vocalist George Oosthoek performed some of the growls on "Deep Within".
One week after they signed with DSFA Records, Within Temptation started recording Enter. The tracks on the album were new versions of the tracks that had appeared on Within Temptation's demos. It was recorded in Studio Moskou, Utrecht, and it was completed and mixed within three weeks.
Robert Westerholt remembers that "it was incomparable to the first recordings we did earlier, this one was much more professional. After all a nice experience, but a very quick one. 'Enter' was recorded in two weeks and mixed in three days, so it was very difficult for we couldn't take time to develop songs. But it was a nice experience - it was our first album!" Vocalist Sharon den Adel recalls that "I only had one and a half days to record my parts and it was quite hectic, just a short warm-up and then 'Go'!"
The album's style is very instrumental compared to the band's later works. Many of the songs have longer instrumental sections and fewer lyrics. On several songs Westerholt provides growling (in contrast to later albums on which it is rarely used).
The lyrics focus on darkness, ghosts, and wars instead of the more common fantasy, love, and nature centered lyrics found on later albums. Enter has been classified as gothic doom metal.
Although it didn't enter the Dutch albums chart in its release year, Enter eventually rose to No. 32 in 2002, after the great success of the song "Ice Queen". The album, along with The Dance were re-released in the US on 18 September 2007 by the label Season of Mist. After the great reception of later albums and the Hydra World Tour, Nuclear Blast decided to release a together re-issue of both Enter and The Dance on 10 November 2014, in order to give the new listeners access to the band's early material.
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