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Gathering

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 22, 2002)
• Original Release Date: 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live, Import
• ASIN: B000065TZK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #467,100 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Remastered reissue of the Dutch symphonic metal act's 1993 debut album that's unavailable domestically.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another lost gem, June 30, 2004

By	Ilya Malafeyev (Russia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's a terrible injustice that many deserving European bands have no decent support from their labels, and their albums are not distributed in the USA. This debut by the Dutch awesome band The Gathering is another sad example. No matter what amazon.com says, this album is as much into symphonic metal as it is into happy dancefloor rhythms. Released in Europe in 1992, it was ideally placed amidst a rising wave of doom-metal bands with heavy death-metal influences. Immediate associations would be Paradise Lost, Cathedral, My Dying Bride, or Anathema of the same period. While treading relatively no new grounds, "Always..." delivered top-notch quality, and it was on top of my play-list for a couple of years after its release.

Those who love The Gathering with incredible singer Anneke van Giersbergen, be warned, she's not present in the band's line-up yet. The vocals are handled by Bart Smits, who is in the possession of a very deep and persuasive growl. He doesn't sound aggressive one bit, but deeply depressed. Generally slow mournful music complements him well. Even on their debut The Gathering show traces of what was to come. Their riffing starys very far from death or doom metal standards, touching classic metal and even bluesy notes. Bass-guitar is moved forward in the mix and plays an important role. Keyboards are also important, and they are not etherial or atmospheric, like so many bands use. They change from grand-piano style to an old clavichord, to modern pulsing synth. Such use of keyboards was absolutely new for this type of music. There are some beautiful keyboard-only interludes on the CD which hint at the band's exceptional melodic talents.

Starting from track #4 the band also uses female backing vocals (no, it's not Anneke ;-)), which complement the melody, Smits' growls or softly spoken words perfectly. The lyrics are typically depressive for a music like this, but without the usual cheese factor.

While this music is lightyears away from what The Gathering are doing for the last 10 years, it still comes highly recommended. Fans of the band might be interested in where it all started. And for fans of death-doom-metal this is a must, an album with plenty of personality and development, and flawless performance.