With the release of the first piece of new music of Within Temptation since 2014, the new album “RESIST” also got confirmed in all its forms. The artwork however seems not to be as original as we know from the Dutch rock band. Sharon den Adel now explains the story behind the artwork.
Artwork
Within Temptation is mostly known for its original and custom made artwork. Back in the early years, and with their 2007-release “The Heart of Everything“, the band used a promotional photo for each era. With the release of their breakthrough-album “Mother Earth“, they started experimenting into the digital world with nice and suiting effects to each and every album.
Photoshoot
After the release of the very first promotional photos for the magazine Metal Hammer, we expected interesting artwork which was, like the previous six eras of studio albums, custom made for the band. However, the released cover of “RESIST” is work released January 2017 on the network site DeviantArt by the artist Emmanuel Shiu. Is the artwork officially purchased and can we expect an exciting collaboration with this digital artist? Sharon Den Adel explained the story behind the artwork in a French interview with Radio Metal.
We have worked with different artists for this cover and of course the music videos. Books are always a great source of inspiration for us, but this time we did not find any inspiration from this side. So we looked on the internet trying to find some inspiration. Robert (Westerholt) found this photo on the interview and it was really perfect, exactly what we needed.
The artist who have done this illustration, Emmanuel Shiu, made it. We reached out to him and bought several pieces of his work. It really explains the idea on the digital age and the ‘Big Brother is watching you’. It’s like all the puzzle pieces were in this illustration.
We’ve added our visuals with his work and the photo sessions and music videos we’ve had are also made into the same theme. A photographer (Set Very) who designed the entire layout, made us look like we’re in a spaceship and everything. That’s why our first music video, “The Reckoning”, is a spaceship. It’s all linked.
So it’s destiny, it first perfectly. Some things are like… How can this happen? It’s crazy.
Thanks to Zeynep Sıray for pointing us this interview.
RESIST
For this new studio album, Within Temptation signed a new album deal with the German based Vertigo Music, which is part of Universal Music. It will be their first release through this label. The reason why it took the Dutch rock band 5 years to return back with a new album is known already. Singer-songwriter Sharon den Adel faced a writers block and could not find any new inspiration to continue with Within Temptation. Next to this, her father got very sick and it was time for Sharon to take a break.
After this, she returned to songwriting after a while. Her first solo project was born, “My Indigo“, with a first single late 2017, and her solo album early 2018. During her solo project, she finally found the mood and motivation again to write for Within Temptation. It took the band only a year to write, record and master this album. Fans already got a preview for this album, with the release of four singles and five out of ten tracks performed live during their RESIST Europe 2018 tour.
