Black Symphony

Black Symphony is the third live album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation. It was released worldwide on 22–24 September 2008 and is available on 2-disc DVD, 2-disc CD, and Blu-ray. Sony Poland announced this item to be released on 3LP. Release was due Friday 28 December 2018.

Information
The release consists of two discs. The first one contains the homonymous special concert that features the band accompanied by The Metropole Orchestra, the Pa'dam Choir, and special guests including George Oosthoek (ex-Orphanage), Anneke van Giersbergen of Agua de Annique and Mina Caputo of Life of Agony. It was filmed by 14 HD cameras on 7 February 2008 in a sold-out concert at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. The album was certified Gold in the Netherlands. Besides the orchestra, choirs and special guests, the concert featured some elaborate extra production apart from the band's common tour performances, such as choreographed circus performances, pyrotechnics, fireworks and special lightning. The album was also one of the pioneers of the blu-ray format release. Music technology magazine Sound on Sound constructed a special article about the making-of process of the DVD, such as the mixing and the editing, and the use of new technology in it.

Reception
The double release was well received among music critics. Adrien Begrand, from Popmatters, praised the band's current recognition in Europe and considered that the main concert structure and production was a worthy opportunity that only a few successful bands could embrace. Begrand, while praising den Adel's performance overall, considered the excess of ballads on the setlist as a low point. He ended his review stating that the release is "in all, a classy package befitting a very classy band, and a sure-fire fan pleaser."

Within Temptation & Metropole Orchestra: Black Symphony.
Recorded live at The Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands on 7 February 2008.

Extras
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Backstage Report

 * 1) Interviews with the band, conductor Jules Buckley, members of the orchestra, Keith Caputo and various fans outside the Ahoy. Presented by Dennis Weening.

Documentary

 * 1) 30-minute documentary with exclusive never-seen-before footage. Interviews with band members on the band's history and on Black Symphony. Produced by the NPS, Netherlands.
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Countdown Black Symphony

 * 1) A short overview of all the happenings on the day of the show, from when the production starts in the morning, until showtime in the evening.
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Bonus Concert
Recorded live at The Beursgebouw, Eindhoven, Netherlands on 24 November 2007.

Music Videos
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 * 1) What Have You Done (with Keith Caputo)
 * 2) Frozen
 * 3) The Howling
 * 4) All I Need

The Making Of...

 * 1) Frozen
 * 2) The Howling
 * 3) All I Need

World Tour Impressions

 * 1) An hour of exclusive footage recorded on the road by Within Temptation in the US & Canada, Europe, Turkey, Mexico, Colombia,  Japan and the UK.
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Extras

 * 1) TMF Awards Benelux (featuring WT's performance of What Have You Done and All I Need at the TMF Awards Belgium)
 * 2) The Dutch Pop Award Show (featuring the male members of WT dressing up in dresses and receiving the Netherlands' most important music award)
 * 3) Photoshoot Erwin Olaf (very exclusive footage of Erwin Olaf working with us on the photos made for The Heart Of Everything)
 * 4) Orchestra Recordings (filmed during the recording of the orchestra parts for The Heart Of Everything)
 * }

Specs
PAL/NTSC format. Contains Dolby Digital 2.0, 5.1 and DTS 96/24 surround sound, filmed in high definition, widescreen. Subtitled in English. Coded region-free, with a total running time of 470 minutes as it also contains both CDs of the Ahoy concert.

Europe and Japanese version

 * The iTunes, amazon.com (MP3), Rhapsody, and Zune Marketplace versions of Black Symphony include all 22 songs.

Editions

 * Europe: 2-CD Digipack/ 2-DVD Digipack/ 2-Disc Blu-ray
 * Europe, UK, Australia: 4-Disc Special Edition Digipack
 * USA, Canada: 1-CD+1-DVD Jewelcase
 * Japan: 2-CD+1-DVD Digipack
 * Argentina: 1-DVD

The Band

 * Sharon den Adel – vocals
 * Robert Westerholt – rhythm guitar, growls
 * Ruud Jolie – lead guitar
 * Martijn Spierenburg – keyboards
 * Jeroen van Veen – bass guitar
 * Stephen van Haestregt – drums

Special Guests

 * Mina Caputo – featured vocals on "What Have You Done"
 * Anneke van Giersbergen – featured vocals on "Somewhere"
 * George Oosthoek – featured growls on "The Other Half (Of Me)"

Certifications
!scope="col" colspan="3" | DVD