Symphonic Metal Music 49 Within Temptation - Iron - album The Unforgiving 2011 on the Road

The Unforgiving is the fifth studio album by Dutch symphonic metal band Within Temptation, released by Roadrunner Records on 29 March 2011. It was a concept album as one part of a transmedia storytelling project, which accompanied the release of three short films and a series of six comic books. The album followed the band's pattern of incorporating new musical elements on each release, this time marking a major transition point for the band and featuring more pop and 80s influences. Lyrically, the band focused on telling a story with specific characters, also present in the films and comic books.

Three singles were released for promoting the album. "Faster", the leading single, was released on 21 January 2011. The second single was "Sinéad", released on 21 March. The third and final one, "Shot in the Dark" was released on 12 September. Each single accompanied a short film in order to visually describe the story being told. The group also commenced The Unforgiving Tour in Europe by the middle of 2011. The tour later passed over North America and Latin America for a total amount of 111 concerts.

The album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, and the composition, storytelling and musical changes were the most discussed points. Reviewers from Big Cheese and sputnikmusic were welcoming of the changes presented by the band and congratulated the transmedia effort, while Kerrang! and Q magazine had some regards with the topics. The album also achieved commercial success, entering top ten positions in countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Germany and Austria.