ALWAYS

"Always..." is the debut full-length studio album by Dutch doom/death metal act The Gathering. The Gathering is probably mostly known for their female led progressive rock/ metal which they began playing on their 3rd studio album "Mandylion" from 1995. Before that they had released two doom/ death metal albums in "Always... (1992)" and "Almost a Dance (1993)".

The music on the album is doom/ death metal with some really deep and growling vocals. We also get some occasional female vocals from guest vocalist Marike Groot. Those of you who know The Gathering from "Mandylion" and onwards know that The Gathering´s music is very much centered around Anneke van Giersbergen´s beautiful vocals, but on "Always..." the female vocals are only an effect to colour the music. The Gathering make heavy use of keyboards in their music. It´s actually a very dominant feature on "Always..." and also a great asset IMO. The music on "Always..." reminds me a bit about the first two Paradise Lost albums: "Lots Paradise (1990)" and "Gothic (1991)". It is in large part due to the similar deep and brutal growling style (Bart Smits sounds a lot like Nick Holmes did in the early days) and the operatic female vocals which also appear on "Gothic". The songs are interesting in structure and we´re treated to intriguing parts in each song. The album is generally very melodic and there are some pleasant acoustic parts which is great for the dynamics of the album.

The musicianship is good even though the drums are a bit too simple and untight.

The production isn´t the best. The guitars are way too low in the mix and it affects my enjoyment with the album.

"Always..." has been a pleasant surprise to me and I really enjoy the overall atmosphere on the album despite a few flaws. A 3 star rating is warranted. "Always..." is recommended to fans of the early nineties doom/ Death metal scene which included acts like Cathedral, Anathema, My Dying Bride, Amorphis, Tiamat, Cemetary and Paradise Lost.

Doom/Death/Goth, I sometimes feel lost amongst these terms. It's usually hard to correctly define what's what. Whatever it is, it's only partially touched by Prog elements. The most prominent track would probably be King For a Day, but bright moments like these in this song are rare as sunshine during stormy day.

Maybe some of you will remember Metal band Tristania, so even main vocals are male dominant, woman is trying to add some tricks to the singing department, unfortunately, they are badly mixed (or what) and are too weak to penetrate through. This album sounds quite like demo.

And I don't have to add that I was shocked a lot because the only other release by "The Gathering" I've heard was "A Sound Relief" and this means completely different style, few different members as well and so this caused some kind of cultural shock.

But because I've tried to be honest and gave this record a fair chance, I must say that even this is genre quite different from those that I'm used to listen, it is melodic, giving enough Prog elements to give this fair rating. I'm not sentimental, I don't have history with this CD nor I know this band for a long time and so I'm fanboy.

3(+), no, just giving this album my standard treatment.