Progarchives.com has always (since 2002) relied on banners ads to cover web hosting fees and all.
Please consider supporting us by giving monthly PayPal donations and help keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.
/PAlogo_v2.gif "Progarchives.com Homepage") |
|
Post Reply 
|
| Author | ||
kenethlevine 
Special Collaborator 
Prog-Folk Team Joined: December 06 2006 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 8851 |
 Topic: The Gathering?Posted: November 07 2010 at 08:10 |
|
|
Hi
I'm becoming intrigued by the descriptions and little snippets I hear from this group. I'm definitely not a fan of metal and tend to like introspective or haunting. Atmospheric is great, and I don't mind repetitive as long as it's hypnotic. Does it sound like I might enjoy something from this group, and, if so, where should I start? Thanks Ken |
||
 |
||
|
rogerthat
Prog Reviewer 
Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 08:20 |
|
|
How To Measure A Planet is what I suggest. Don't know what samples you have heard but this song off that album should whet your appetite:
|
||
|
||
|
Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 09:18 |
|
|
Their career is pretty diverse in its own special way. The early albums were death/doom metal, they didn't get interesting until Anneke van Giersbergen joined on the "Mandylion" album which moved their style towards Gothic Metal. If you want to point the finger of blame, this album is responsible for every female-fronted gothic metal band that followed, from Nightwish through to Evanessence. Interesting, but not essential.
The breakthrough album was "Nighttime Birds" which pushed the gothicness of "Mandylion" into more Progressive areas as Anneke's vocals edge closer to Julianne Regan (All About Eve) territory - Nighttime Birds is like a metal version of All About Eve at their hippy-gothic best.
The next album is the real kicker - "How To Measure A Planet" takes the groundwork of "Nighttime Birds" and brings in ethereal and electronica influences and drops most of the Metal - here vocals and melody move to the fore in creating the atmosphere that they originally produced with twin guitar riffs and double-kick drumming, the music loses its density in the process taking on a trip-hop feel at times that they would later develop into Trip-Rock. Along with the Portishead style trip-hop, there are also touches of Dead Can Dance - it is this inclusion of diverse styles and influences that broke the mold of Gothic Metal and declared the band to be "Progressive".
The next three albums are all much of a muchness with varying amounts of metal, rock and trip-hop - to pick one I'd pick "Souvenirs" as being the least metal (well, none really) and the most trippy. Ratings here would suggest that "if_then_else" is more popular, but I think that's contained within the degree of uncertainty of a 5-point voting system.
I always struggle when recommending albums because tastes and opinions differ, the three albums I have highlighted show the diversity of the band. IMO "How To Measure A Planet" is a difficult album to start with simply because it is a long album, (complete with a 28 minute track that isn't a progressive metal or progressive rock epic but post-rock unepic), and it tends to lack focus at times - however, it is my favourite theGathering album and if you are only ever going to buy one theGathering album, it should be this one.
Edited by Dean - November 07 2010 at 09:23 |
||
|
What?
|
||
|
||
|
lucas
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 06 2004 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 8138 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 11:47 |
|
|
rather boring band, 'Mandylion' and 'Souvenirs' included.
Anneke has a very distinguishable voice, and saves the band from being average.
I don't really find this band essential. Edited by lucas - November 07 2010 at 11:47 |
||
|
"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)
|
||
|
||
|
Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 13:02 |
|
|
^ pointless post
|
||
|
What?
|
||
|
||
|
avestin
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 18 2005 Status: Offline Points: 12625 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 14:32 |
|
|
Dean has covered the matter very well, I'll second his opinion that How To Measure A Planet is the album to get. It has a great vibe and sound, haunting atmosphere and beautiful melodies (my favourite being Travel, the last song on CD 1).
However, I would like to "defend" Mandylion and say that it is worth checking out as it has some of my favourite of their songs (the 3 first songs in fact) as well as a great instrumental (Sand & Mercury). I wouldn't skip it. And while it's not as "atmospheric" as later releases, it does have this magical mood. Now as for their first album, a doom-death metal one, it is one of my favourite albums, one I bought when it came out and they were an unknown band. In my opinion/to my taste, this is a well done album in that genre with good "catchy" and compelling tunes. I'd recommend it for fans of the genre. With the album If Then Else, I lost interest in the band, though I still have all the albums. Their music lost their appeal, for me. While still making some songs I liked, overall, for me, the magic was gone. So I would go with How To Measure A Planet, Mandylion, Nighttime Birds, If Then Else. Also, I'd like to note that Sleepy Buildings - A Semi Acoustic Evening is quite an accomplished live show (and I don't like live albums at all), with acoustic renditions of two songs from their first album which are done quite well. |
||
|
||
|
lucas
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 06 2004 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 8138 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 15:19 |
|
is it forbidden not to like The Gathering ?
|
||
|
"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)
|
||
|
||
|
lucas
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 06 2004 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 8138 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 15:29 |
|
|
For those who read french, there are some nice reviews of The Gathering's albums on the excellent website guts of darkness : Still wondering why this thread is in prog lounge though...The Gathering are not prog at all.
|
||
|
"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)
|
||
|
||
|
Tuzvihar
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 18 2005 Location: C. Schinesghe Status: Offline Points: 13489 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 15:35 |
|
http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=1618 |
||
|
"Music is much like f**king, but some composers can't climax and others climax too often, leaving themselves and the listener jaded and spent."
Charles Bukowski |
||
|
||
|
lucas
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 06 2004 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 8138 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 15:56 |
|
|
^ experimental metal ?
 |
||
|
"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)
|
||
|
||
|
Dean
Special Collaborator
Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 16:31 |
|
|
||
|
What?
|
||
|
||
|
lucas
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: February 06 2004 Location: France Status: Offline Points: 8138 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 16:37 |
|
|
^ I answered Ken's question : "Does it sound like I might enjoy something from this group" |
||
|
"Magma was the very first gothic rock band" (Didier Lockwood)
|
||
|
||
|
Snow Dog
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 23 2005 Location: Caerdydd Status: Offline Points: 32995 |
Posted: November 07 2010 at 16:42 |
|
The answer must be "yes" as he has enjoyed snippets. Now he knows that you don't like them, which may or may not be helpful
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
aapatsos
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: November 11 2005 Location: Manchester, UK Status: Offline Points: 9226 |
Posted: November 08 2010 at 14:28 |
|
|
having fun reading the dialogues above...
bearing in mind that you don't like metal as such, I would be reluctant to suggest Mandylion and Nighttime Birds which are their best albums IMO. I would too suggest "How to Measure a Planet" from the descriptions you give in the post, and If Then Else would come second. I would also agree with Avestin on the fact that the magic was gone with If Then Else, although there are a number of good tunes in their latest albums. |
||
|
||
|
kenethlevine
Special Collaborator
Prog-Folk Team Joined: December 06 2006 Location: New England Status: Offline Points: 8851 |
Posted: November 08 2010 at 16:05 |
|
|
All of this is very helpful, or at least entertaining. Thanks! |
||
|
||
|
sleeper
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 09 2005 Location: Entropia Status: Offline Points: 16449 |
Posted: November 08 2010 at 16:20 |
|
|
How to Measure a Planet? is definitely their best album, with Mandylion and If_Then_Else being two equally strong albums. Nightime Birds was a rehash of Mandylion, something the band admits.
The live albums Sleepy Builings and Superheat are great as well. |
||
|
Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005
 |
||
|
||
|
npjnpj
Forum Senior Member 
Joined: December 05 2007 Location: Germany Status: Offline Points: 2720 |
Posted: November 09 2010 at 06:39 |
|
|
I find this band difficult to rate.
At times I quite enjoy their albums, but usually I lose interest about halfway through an album, because after a while their songs seem to drag, some more, some less, but drag they do. Even so, as recommendations I'd agree with Mandylion and Nighttime Birds. A lot of How To Measure A Planet I find quite tedious. I first listened to them because their singer's voice on that Human Equation Ayreon album made me sit up and take notice, but I enjoyed that much more. Now she's split from The Gathering, has anyone heard her solo album, by the way? Edited by npjnpj - November 09 2010 at 07:14 |
||
|
||
|
aapatsos
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: November 11 2005 Location: Manchester, UK Status: Offline Points: 9226 |
Posted: November 10 2010 at 13:43 |
|
|
^ I have heard some samples, largely dissapointing for me - closer to pop patterns - but others might enjoy it
|
||
|
||
|
memowakeman
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator Joined: May 19 2005 Location: Mexico City Status: Offline Points: 13032 |
Posted: November 10 2010 at 18:44 |
|
|
Oh, they are a pretty nice band, my love for them has grown recently. I would recommend Souvenirs.
|
||
|
Follow me on twitter @memowakeman |
||
|
||
|
Cristi
Special Collaborator
Crossover / Prog Metal Teams Joined: July 27 2006 Location: wonderland Status: Online Points: 41266 |
Posted: March 16 2018 at 04:11 |
|
|
If Then Else is my favorite from them. I also enjoy their last two albums Disclosure and Afterwards. Anneke's gone, but the new vocalists is doing a great job.
I agree with the recommended albums above. Maybe I should not resurrect this thread, but a discussion about the underrated Gathering would not hurt.
|
||
|
||
|
Post Reply
|
|
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
The Gathering?
Topic Options
Dean wrote:
I have gone ahead and ordered "How to measure a Planet", and will follow on from there as indicated.