Roadrunner Records is proud to announce the signing of critically acclaimed Dutch goth-metallers Within Temptation for the UK, Australia, and Japan. 퉌æ Fronted by the nightingale-throated Sharon den Adel, the band is completed by Robert Westerholt (guitar), Jeroen Van Veen (bass), Stephen van Haestregt (drums), Martijn Spierenburg (keyboards), and Ruud Jolie (guitar). 퉌æ í¢ä‰åñWe are very happy that our new album is being released by Roadrunner in the U.K., Australia, and Japan,í¢ä‰åŒ say Sharon and Robert. í¢ä‰åñA lot of our fans from these countries send us messages requesting a local album release. We wanted to work with a label that understands our music and now we are definitely at the right place.í¢ä‰åŒ 퉌æ Formed in 1996, Within Temptation has released three albums including the platinum album ‘Mother Earth’ – selling over 800,000 albums in their career to date. Latest album ‘The Silent Force’, originally released in November 2004, crashed into the Netherlands official chart at #1, and was certified gold a mere three weeks later. Further Top 5 positions followed in Germany (gold), Belgium (also gold), and Finland, with Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, France, and Norway all also placing the album high in the Top 30. A UK release is set for August 29th in brand new CD and CD/DVD formats including bonus tracks and live footage. 퉌æ In early 2005, with over 400,000 copies of ‘The Silent Force’ sold in Europe, the band was awarded the Conamus Music Export prize as well as the Edison Award for Best National Band (the Dutch equivalent of the US Grammys & the UK Brits). A TMF Award (MTV Benelux’s domestic award ceremony) followed. 퉌æ Within Temptation are currently on the European festival circuit, appearing at Pinkpop, Werchter, Rock Am Ring, Rock Im Park, Sweden Rock, Ruisrock, Aerodome, Wacken, and Gurten. Support slots with Iron Maiden in Paris and Zurich have also been announced. In addition, a special one-off show in Amsterdam on July 22 is confirmed, where the band will perform on an island in the middle of a river for 10,000 fans! 퉌æIn the UK, Within Temptation will headline the annual Bloodstock Festival on September 3. Stay tuned for more dates.