Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Within Temptation: Black Symphony Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Sir Terrence October 27, 2008

I must admit, I am not really a hard core rock and roll guy, even though I have enjoyed music from several rock bands which include Queen, Led Zeppelin, Kiss and several others. Not being familiar with Within Temptation, or gothic metal, I was filled with dread when I received this title for review. That dread disappeared shortly after the Overture began. What looked like a deer in the headlights moment, turn into an eye and ear opening pleasure that went on for twenty two songs. This was good stuff, and as a musician and singer, I really appreciated the amount of work that went into putting this concert on video.

Within Temptation was formed in 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel, and guitarist Robert Westerholt. In some circles they are described as a gothic metal band, in others a symphonic metal or symphonic rock band. From what I saw, symphonic Goth would be better applied because of the haunting vocals that permeated every song on the Bluray disc. They have released five albums since 1997, the first being “Enter”, followed by “The Dance” released in 1998. “Mother Earth” was released in 2000 to moderate success, but it was the single “Ice Queen” from that album that shot Within Temptation to the number two position in the album charts. It shot to number one in Belgium in 2002. This helped the albums rather tepid reception to reach the number three position on the Dutch album charts. Their appeal grew even more in 2002 when they had their first concert in France and a gig in Mexico City as well. In 2004, the groups release “The Silent Force” hit number one instantly in the Netherlands, and charted very well across Europe. To drive support for the release, the band started an international tour in 2005 with huge gigs in London, and a show in Dubai. In 2007, the group released its fourth album “The Heart of Everything” which debut number one on the Dutch charts, making it their second number one release with over fifty thousand copies of the album sold in one week. It reached the top ten in eight countries, and top one hundred in eleven more.

On February 7, 2008, the band along with the Metropole Orchestra, and Pa’dam choir under the direction of Jules Buckley were featured in a concert at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. This concert was film with 14 high definition cameras, along with a high resolution audio as well. In my opinion, this was a huge success, as I thoroughly enjoyed what I heard and saw from the Bluray disc. If there was one problem I had with this release, it was the non stop haunting vocals that seemed to make everything sound Celtic, instead of the edgy rock I have heard from other rock bands. Also the hand gestures and dance moves from lead vocalist Adel (if that is what you called it) were repetitive, annoying, and distracting. Aside from that, this was a very enjoyable concert experience that literally rocked my room for close to two hours.

Within Temptation: Black Symphony Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Within Temptation's Black Symphony comes to Bluray in a very good 1080i/AVC encode that is a joy to watch. Sourced from 14 high definition camera's, the video is always clean and artifact free, but lacks the sharpness I have seen from other concert videos. Black levels are consistent, inky deep, and remain stable throughout the entire concert. While at times colors are de-saturated (as in the opening Overture), when they are present (through most of the concert), they are balanced, well saturated, and never bleed. Contrast is sometimes inconsistent as the video moves from camera to camera, as is the sharpness as well, but I found myself too engrossed to be distracted by it. Flesh tones are spot on (milky white and no red faces to be found). One surprising thing that I did find is that even when the camera panning was lightening quick, I saw no motion artifacts. I would rate the picture quality as very good, but just short of the very best on this release.

Within Temptation: Black Symphony Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio on Black Symphony just has to be heard to be believed. It never failed to deliver, and packed several spatial effects I found quite surprising. Complete with a 5.1 24/96khz PCM track at the data rate of 13.8mbps, a Dts 96/24 5.1 track at the data rate of 1509mbps, a Dolby Digital track at 448kbps, a PCM stereo track at 4.6mbps, and lastly a lowly Dolby Digital stereo track at 224kbps. I chose the 5.1 PCM tracks for very obvious reasons. It was the best sounding hands down. The opening overture nicely sets the tone opening with choral vocals spread across the back wall of my home theater, and nice bleeding into the rear sides of the room. Once the Orchestra kicks in, you hear these beautifully recorded, smooth and extended violins, rich and full lower brass and strings, powerful but not strident upper brass that just cuts through the air like a knife, and an overall naturalness and clarity that only well recorded 24/96khz audio can deliver. Balance is truly superb, as the guitars, bass, keyboards; drums and Orchestra are finely, and tightly woven together to create a powerful and relentless drive, and wall of sound that leaves you breathless, exhausted, and fully satisfied after the last note is played. The audience was mainly spread in the surrounds, but was so finely and realistically captured, that I times it sounded like a person was yelling on the side of me, and behind me. The LFE was used for the bass frequencies exclusively, and was constantly active throughout the entire concert. If I had any issues with the sound, it was either with the technique of the lead vocalist, or the microphone used to capture her. As she jumped from her chest voice to her head voice, the vocals started to sound mushy, and her diction very indistinct. I had to turn on the subtitles to understand what she was actually saying.

In comparing each track, I found there was no contest between the 24/96khz PCM, and the other tracks, with Dts 96/24 not that far behind. The wonderfully captured 5.1 uncompressed track was extremely full sounding, powerful, ultra-balanced, without a single wart sticking out. The Dts 96/24 track sounded much the same, but with a hair less presence, and a wee bit smaller sound field and frontal soundstage. It had all the spatial coherence of the uncompressed multichannel track, and was nothing to sneeze at. The Dolby Digital 5.1 track sounded slightly mushy and less defined than the Dts 96/24 track, and had a bit smaller sound field, and a mushy sound staging of the instruments. The stereo PCM track had a pretty defined frontal soundstage and sound field, but lack the spatial dimension of the multichannel tracks. The stereo Dolby Digital track was plain unlistenable compared to the rest. It had a very mushy, phasey quality that I found very unpleasant. Overall the sound was a home run, and of reference quality to these ears.

Within Temptation: Black Symphony Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Because I didn't know much about this band, I chose to watch the extra's first. It was a great introduction for a person that knew nothing about them. First up is featurette The Backstage Reportwhich included interviews with members of the Band, conductor of the Metropole Orchestra Jules Buckley, members of the Metropole Orchestra, Keith Caputo, and fans waiting outside of the Ahoy before the doors of the Arena open for the event. Following that is a 30 minute documentary with exclusive never-been-seen footage, interviews with band members who talked about the history of the band, and more specifically on the concert Black Symphony. And lastly we get Countdown Black Symphony which chronicled all the happenings from the start of the day, until after show time that evening. Unfortunately (for me) I could not view the bonus DVD as it was in the PAL format, and I have no player that supported that format.

Within Temptation: Black Symphony Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I cannot stress enough how good a time I had watching this video. My head bobbed, my legs moved, and I got my groove on in a major way. A lot of times we here in America are kind of isolated in the thinking that great music is only produced in our country. This video served to open this American's eyes not only to a different genre of music, but it coming from a band from a different part of the world as well. As I am finishing this review, I am getting into Ice Queen, The Heart of Everything, Jillian, and The Howling, which had me really howling! I hope I get to review more videos from this fantastic group. This is a first class effort from Sony/BMG, and is a must buy at all costs for fans of Within Temptation. I know I am one after this.