THE GATHERING

Cover	Release	Style
	2006-04-15	atmospheric rock
	Label
	Psychonaut Records
	Website
	The Gathering
	Contact
	-
	Playing Time	Cat. N°
	60:25	LC09066
	Review by	Rating
	Danny	8/10
nederlands	Review
The Gathering, a band that went though different stages, starting with gothic, via (prog)metal to what they call “atmospheric rock”, released their ninth album ‘Home’ It’s never easy to review an album by The Gathering. It really takes a lot of time and auditions to get into their music. At first, all the songs seem to lack diversity, but after several times they start to grow on you and they don’t stop growing. What initially seemed like 13 boring songs, suddenly starts to reveal its secrets. Opener “Shortest Day” is a rhythmic rocky track, rockier than what we are used by them from the last few albums. The same can be said about “In between”, with a great vocal melody and harmony. The guitar sounds heavier than ever, but don’t expect any guitar solos. ”Alone” starts the same way, but contains a great ‘psychedelic’ middle part. Time for a few slower tracks. “Waking hour”, in which the piano plays the leading role, is one of the most progressive and one of the best tracks of the album. It slowly builds up to a climax, with a softer middle piece with guitar and piano. ”A Noise Severe” is build around a very simple but catchy riff and holds your attention for the whole six minutes. A pity, the lyrics contain a lot of ooh’s and aah’s. Anneke, accompanied by only the piano, sings the quiet ballad “Forgotten”. And suddenly there are marching soldiers giving the rhythm for “Solace” while a voice tells something in Spanish, opening a great track. My personal favourite is ”Your Troubles are Over”, a very groovy track, again with a fantastic vocal melody, growing towards fantastic vocal harmonies at the end. The Hammond organ plays the important part in “Box”, which ends with some “Welcome to the machine “ sounds. “The quiet one” is what the title already suggests, a quiet track with an acoustic guitar and a lot of aah’s and no lyrics. The title track has a “Western Movie” feeling at the beginning, not because of the noises, but because of the “Ennio Morricone” guitar sound. Seven minutes of relaxing, rather dark but great music. But the last minute and fifteen seconds is filled with complete silence. And after that silence there’s ‘Forgotten Reprise’, a second version of “Forgotten” lasting for almost eight minutes, although the last seven are a never-ending fade out, totally superfluous. My music teacher always said that you can’t always recognize good musicians by what they are playing but sometimes by what they are not playing. A rule that certainly applies for the musicians of this band. A lot of tensions are created by parts of tracks without drums or guitar. The speed of their songs never exceeds a semi ballad. I would prefer a few speedier tracks, but apparently it’s part of their sound. The Gathering sounds sometimes too much as a solo project by Anneke, while the other musicians only place a soundscape underneath her vocals. Of course, she’s one of the best female singers around. And again, it’s part of their sound. And judging by the growing fan base, a lot of people love this ‘atmospheric rock’.
Musicians
Anneke van Giersbergen: vocals René Rutten: guitars Marjolein Kooijman: bass Frank Boeijen: keyboards Hans Rutten: drums
Tracklist
Shortest Day (04:12) In Between (04:44) Alone (04:56) Waking Hours (05:38) Fatigue (01:49) A Noise Severe (06:06) Forgotten (03:25) Solace (03:51) Your Troubles Are Over (03:46) Box (04:43) The Quiet One (02:16) Home (06:58) Forgotten Reprise(07:57)
Discography
Always (1992) Almost a Dance (1994) Mandylion (1995) Nighttime Birds (1997) How to measure a Planet (1998) Superheat (2000) If_then_else (2000) Downfall – The Early Years (2001) Black Light District (EP) (2002) Souvenirs (2003) Sleepy Buildings (2004) Home (2006)


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