SHARON DEN ADEL On WITHIN TEMPTATION's Political Lyrics: 'It's Important For A Band To Take A Stand'

In an August 2025 interview with Germany's Rock Antenne, Sharon Den Adel of Dutch metallers WITHIN TEMPTATION was asked what the response has been like from the band's fans to WITHIN TEMPTATION members voicing their political views in some of their recently released songs, including "Wireless" and the title track of their latest album "Bleed Out", which have highlighted such current topics as the war in Ukraine and the suspicious death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman "detained" for not wearing a hijab. She said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's difficult to say how much impact it has in the future on us. But I think we had very various reactions to it. People say, 'Don't be political.' There are people who are actually applauding it: 'Finally, somebody is talking about it.' You always have haters and lovers for something. And I think that's the debate we're trying to raise. Even the haters, I don't care about the fact that they hate it, it's the fact that they are talking about it. Even that they hate it is maybe sparking a debate within themselves without them knowing it. It's just trying to have that debate with each other: What kind of world do we wanna live in? And I think that's what we — I don't know if we will pay the bill for that eventually by losing… We don't have a choice."

She continued: "We wrote an album that was, for a big part, inspired by Ukraine. And the more you talk about it, the more involved you get. Also the organizations you support, they get a face. It's not a headline anymore. The faces of the people you got to know along the way who are working for those organizations, Ukrainian people and also bands we've been working with, and musicians, it becomes personal because the headline is their face. You think of them when there's another attack from Russia. You think, 'Oh my God. I really hope they're safe.' And we still have contact with a lot of them.

"I don't know how to evaluate the response we had so far," Sharon admitted. "Will it help in the end a little bit? I hope so. I don't think we'll make a major impact with the choices we made, but it's just for the whole debate in society in general. I think it's important for a band to take a stand."

After the interviewer noted that people everywhere "get tired" of hearing about the various wars which are going on around the world, Sharon concurred. "Yeah, they get tired of it," she said. "But, unfortunately, the people in Ukraine don't have [the ability to turn it off]. And the people in Gaza and the people in Brazil or wherever something's going on with drug cartels or Colombia or all the things happening politically, it's not possible for people to give up a good fight. And when you start doing this, it's also, like, when do you stop with it again also? And you get more and more involved."

Referencing last month's meeting in Alaska between U.S. and Russian presidents, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, respectively, which was billed as a vital step towards peace in Ukraine despite the fact that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky was not invited to attend the talks, Sharon said: "It doesn't feel good to stop at the moment, because as you know, there's talks now in Alaska very soon, where people are talking about another country where the country itself is not even invited. It's, like, what a crazy world are we living in. If you see America, with women's rights, wanting to take away women's right to vote, those kind of things, we hardly can believe that will ever happen. I would be on the barricades when that would happen. I would be screaming hell and murder. And, obviously, it does happen, but sometimes you don't see it as much in the news as you want, because I think the news is also afraid of becoming tired to the general public. You wanna keep it refreshing for people and awakening people, but how do you reach them in the right doses? It's difficult."

This past May, WITHIN TEMPTATION collaborated with Ukrainian artist and Eurovision contestant Jerry Heil on a new single "Sing Like A Siren". The song reflects both struggle and determination, capturing the feeling of powerlessness as well as the need to stand up against it. The track also carries a message of guidance: being a siren to call those who are lost back home.

Beyond its artistic vision, "Sing Like A Siren" carries a deeper purpose. The song serves as the soundtrack to WITHIN TEMPTATION's documentary "The Invisible Force", capturing their visit to Ukraine and their initiative to support Ukrainian artists by bringing them along on their "Bleed Out" 2024 tour.

In the fall of 2023, WITHIN TEMPTATION co-sponsored the Ukraine Aid Operations boat fundraiser for the Ukrainian Marines. They donated 6,000 euros for 30 patches, which they packaged with a limited-edition box of their latest album, "Bleed Out".

In March 2022, WITHIN TEMPTATION was one of the artists who took part in a telethon concert in support of Ukraine. "Save Ukraine - #StopWar" united more than 20 countries and bring together more than 50 participants. The marathon was broadcast from Warsaw on the Polish TV channel TVP. In addition, broadcasters from many countries around the world rebroadcasted the marathon on their local channels.