Within Temptation’s new album Hydra will be out early next year, and several special guests have been confirmed for the album. Among them are Tarja Turunen (ex-Nightwish), who was featured on the band’s EP Paradise (What About Us?) last month, Howard Jones (ex-Killswitch Engage), and Dave Pirner (Soul Asylum). What you might not have expected is that the album will also feature hip-hop icon and famous internet meme Xzibit.
Guitarist Robert Westerholt says of Xzibit:
“Xzibit is amazing. ‘And We Run’song is about how you’ve got to live your life now. He’s rapping at full force on this song, it’s really heavy.”
There has been praise for Tarja Turunen and and Howard Jones as well. Says singer Sharon Den Adel:
“The way she delivers those high melody lines left us all speechless. We had a great time, and the fans responded beyond our expectations.”
“I always loved Howard’s voice,” she says. “He makes the song even heavier than it already is. That song is one of my favorite songs on the record and one of the fastest we’ve ever written. It has the most bass drums we’ve ever used, too, and a very fast riff which we doubled with synths. It’s not a typical synthesizer, though — it’s distorted like a guitar, and it’s very aggressive.”
Hydra will be available January 31, 2014. The track listing for the iTunes premium edition is listed below, and it’s pretty nuts. Aside from the guest vocalists, there are also covers of songs by Enrique Iglesias, Imagine Dragons (you’ve heard “Radioactive” before, trust me and Lana Del Ray. Check it out below:
01. Let Us Burn
02. Dangerous (feat. Howard Jones)
03. And We Run (feat. Xzibit
04. Paradise (What About Us?) (feat. Tarja)
05. Edge Of The World
06. Silver Moonlight
07. Covered By Roses
08. Dog Days
09. Tell Me Why
10. Whole World Is Watching (feat. Dave Pirner)
11. Radioactive (originally performed by IMAGINE DRAGONS)
12. Summertime Sadness (originally performed by Lana del Ray)
13. Let Her Go (originally performed by PASSENGER)
14. Dirty Dancer (originally performed by Enrique Iglesias)
15. And We Run (evolution track)
16. Silver Moonlight (evolution track)
17. Covered By Roses (evolution track)
18. Tell Me Why (evolution track)
19. Paradise (What About Us?) (feat. Tarja) music video (exclusive to iTunes premium version)
