Within Temptation - Don't Pray for Me - Single [Review]

"Don't Pray for Me" is presumably the fourth single from Dutch metal band Within Temptation's upcoming eighth studio album (the title of which has not yet been revealed). The string of new singles began two years ago with "Entertain You" (reviewed here) and continued with "The Purge" (reviewed here), "Shed My Skin" (reviewed here), and now "Don't Pray for Me." While all four songs are great songs in their own rights, I do think that "Don't Pray for Me" might be my favorite. Like the band's last album Resist, there is somewhat of a futuristic synthy sound to it while still maintaining a heavy metal weight to it. (The music video even has somewhat of a futuristic sci-fi feel to it, as does the music video for Resist's lead single, "The Reckoning.") The song also features a persistent choir motif throughout which I love because I really love symphonic rock and metal, and it brings me back to the days of The Heart of Everything (my second favorite Within Temptation album next to Resist) when songs like "The Howling" and "Final Destination" brought in theatrical aspects such as a choir. Close to the end of the track, we also get frontwoman Sharon den Adel's haunting chanting in a higher register than most of what she offers on the rest of the song, also a signature sound that brings me back to the band's earlier days. The song's meaning is definitely up for interpretation (as is typical of Within Temptation's style of songwriting as their lyrics are sometimes rather cryptic and open-ended), but I personally interpret it as being about overcoming strife and hardship relying on no one other than yourself: "In hell is where I stand," Sharon declares in the second verse. "It's where I find my inner strength." Speaking of the lyrics, I definitely have to tip my proverbial hat to this song's lyrics because I think that this song makes for some of the band's best lyrics to date, and I especially love the line, "For my confessions, I don't need a church." As I said, it, to the best of my knowledge, is still unclear whether these four singles released over the last two years are standalone singles or are the first four singles from an upcoming studio album, but I am definitely hoping for the latter and am hoping that the band makes an announcement about the next album soon!