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ALMOST A DANCE

The Gathering

Experimental/Post Metal


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The Gathering Almost A Dance album cover
2.11 | 66 ratings | 5 reviews | 0% 5 stars

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Studio Album, released in 1993

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. On a Wave (5:51)
2. The Blue Vessel (6:04)
3. Her Last Flight (8:45)
4. The Sky People (4:26)
5. Nobody Dares (3:31)
6. Like Fountains (7:39)
7. Proof (6:16)
8. Heartbeat Amplifier (4:51)
9. A Passage to Desire (6:44)

Total Time: 54:07

Line-up / Musicians

- Martine van Loon / lead vocals
- Niels Duffhues / lead vocals, acoustic guitars, arrangements (5)
- René Rutten / electric & acoustic guitars
- Jelmer Wiersma / electric & acoustic guitars
- Frank Boeijen / keyboards, synthesizers, samples
- Hugo Prinsen Geerligs / bass, flute
- Hans Rutten / drums, windchimes, arrangements

Releases information

Recorded Live in studio

Artwork: Kirsten Van Toosten with Jack Tillmanns (photo)

CD Foundation 2000 ‎- FDN 2008 2 (1993, Netherlands)
CD Psychonaut Records ‎- PSYN0002 CD (1999, Netherlands) Remastered by Attie Bauw

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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THE GATHERING Almost A Dance ratings distribution


2.11
(66 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(0%)
0%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(9%)
9%
Good, but non-essential (26%)
26%
Collectors/fans only (41%)
41%
Poor. Only for completionists (24%)
24%

THE GATHERING Almost A Dance reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by UMUR
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
2 stars "Almost a Dance" is the second full-length studio album by Dutch death/doom/gothic metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The album was released through the Foundation 2000 label in October 1993. Itīs the successor to "Always..." from June 1992. The basic tracks were recorded live in the studio. Everything was recorded and mixed in September, 1993 at "Spitsbergen" Studio.

There have been a few lineup changes since the preceding album as lead vocalist Bart Smits has been replaced by Niels Duffhues and the band have also added Martine van Loon as a permanent female vocalist, making The Gathering a septet on "Almost a Dance". The departure of Smits has great impact on "Almost a Dance" as there are now no longer death metal growling but instead clean male vocals in the bandīs music. Duffhues unfortunately has a pretty weak and unremarkable voice (he sounds like a strained Mike Patton with a cold...) and the melody lines he is given to perform arenīt particularly memorable. So the change on the male vocalist post is a definite step down in quality from "Always...". van Loon only performs vocals on four out of nine tracks on the 53:58 minutes long album, so she doesnīt have as much impact on the album as Duffhues does. When she does perform her ethereal atmospheric vocals itīs a welcome change from Duffhues tedious vocal style. The only time my ears are able to partially appreciate his performance is on the alternative acoustic rock ballad track "Nobody Cares" (which by the way interupts the flow of the album).

The instrumental part of the music is keyboard dominated doom metal and itīs generally atmospheric, melancholic, and epic music. The sound production is decent and slightly better balanced than the sound production of the preceding album, but when it comes to evaluating the album itīs impossible not to let the monotone and strained male clean vocals affect the rating. So upon conclusion "Almost a Dance" is an intriguing doom/goth metal album which is almost completely destroyed by the vocals. Itīs not often a sophomore studio album is this much weaker than a bandīs debut album, but thatīs unfortunately the reality of things. Fortunately The Gathering would strike back with great force on their next album. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Latest members reviews

1 stars What a let down after the exciting debut album Always. The Gathering goes melodic on Almost A Dance with clean male vocals. Vocals that sounds like a male moose in heat, though. Frankly, they are that terrible. The guitars are melodic and the guitar solos is diddly-dei without much originality. ... (read more)

Report this review (#550420) | Posted by toroddfuglesteg | Friday, October 14, 2011 | Review Permanlink

3 stars Since I wrote a review for "Always...", I thought I'd do the same for "Almost A Dance". I got this album out of curiosity, since even die-hard fans on The Gathering's official forum advise against buying it. They said the male vocals, although non-grunting, are rather off key. I'm afraid th ... (read more)

Report this review (#93949) | Posted by Tailscent | Tuesday, October 10, 2006 | Review Permanlink

1 stars I'm afraid that most of what I wrote about the first one ALWAYS is just as true for the second one ALMOST A DANCE. It's not to be compared with THE GATHERING of later days. Still, I think it already shows the very first small steps into a future direction. The songs are more refined than on the ... (read more)

Report this review (#88158) | Posted by Waylander | Friday, August 25, 2006 | Review Permanlink

3 stars This is the last album I bought from The Gathering, basically to see what it would sound like without the voice of Anneke van Giersbergen. Well it's not a bad album, songs like "On A Wave" and "Like Fountains" are quite good, not to mention the beautiful ballad "Nobody Dares". The singer uses ... (read more)

Report this review (#65397) | Posted by zaxx | Wednesday, January 18, 2006 | Review Permanlink

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