"The Truth Beneath the Rose" by Within Temptation from The Heart of Everything

"Forgive me my sins!" may be grammatically incorrect with the strong type, but it's the best written way I know to express the plea you have to hear to fully appreciate. Some songs should be heard by anyone at least once just so they can appreciate it on any one of its artistic levels. Within Temptation's "The Truth Beneath the Rose" from The Heart of Everything is one of those.

"Pray with me, for I have lost my faith in holy wars!" pleads Sharon Den Adel as narrator of the song. Jaded by the "cruelty of the beast" within her, evidently released by the Crusades, the narrator struggles with the faith because of the violence it presumably requires. She's not giving up entirely, though; she wants the truth. "Is it a sin to seek the truth, the truth beneath the rose?" she asks in the line that provides the song with its name.

Bells put a medieval aura from the beginning of "The Truth Beneath the Rose." The rock element starts with a tone that brings marching to mind without being directly martial. This long song on The Heart of Everything provides an astonishing meld of music in its gothic rock. "The Truth Beneath the Rose" is notably longer than most songs, though, so some might not want to sit and listen to it for 7 minutes straight.

This latest CD from Within Temptation, The Heart of Everything, takes full advantage of Sharon Den Adel's variable voice. She sings beautifully, the power of the words and emotions to the song pounding through. Sharon Den Adel has admitted she thinks her good imagination helps her get into the songs, and I have to agree.

The Heart of Everything, will be released in the United States this July, providing the US its first official exposure to Within Temptation, and "The Truth Beneath the Rose" is one of the several excellent songs on that CD.

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Lyrics: 5/5
Music: 5/5
Vocalist(s): 5/5
Overall: 10/10