Liked the Gathering track. Tried looking them up for more music, typed "Gathering band" in Google, and got directed to videos for a Christian pop group called The Gathering Band!
Anyhoo, found the CORRECT band and listened to some more songs. A bit overproduced in studio, as is almost all symphonic metal, but still pretty good. Any live albums you'd recommend? And, is their name a reference to the Highlander films?
Glad you like it! The Gathering are from all bands that I know one of the most difficult to place in a category.
I will share some more vids here (also studio if you don't mind) to show stuff from various albums.
Live albums:
You might go for one of the electric ones.
On the name: got it!
Frank Boeijen (keyboard player) on the origins of the name of the band:
"The name the Gathering has been made like eleven years ago when we started this band. We were all between 15 and 17. We were watching a lot of movies those days. One of the movies spoke about immortality and that you could kill the immortals with cutting their head off [it's the first
Highlander Frank is speaking about]. In the first part of the movie, they speak a lot about the
gathering. There will be a gathering once with all the immortals. We thought it was a nice name for a band, and that's how we created this name. And you can feel it's a cool name for five people who come together to make fine music."
The Gathering started out as a death/doom metal band with a grunter, but their keyboards made them sound apart from the rest. On the 2nd album the grunter was replaced by a vocalist with an unpleasunt voice. Believe, it's less pleasant than the grunts on the first album. So, Cornfed, skip these two, and to the others I say: The debut (
Always, 1992) is pretty cool.
In 2012 year, the line-up of 1992 temporarily reformed (3 members are still in the current band), and they played the whole debut album. I'll share one song (did I say, you have to skip this Cornfed. ;-)
Iwas at this particular concert)
In 1995 Anneke van Giersbergen arrived and it led to a breakthrough to a broader (rock/metal) audience. The first album they recorded with her was
Mandylion, an instant classic. The song Strange Machines comes from it. This is Leaves (more laidback but still bombastic):
In 1997 the album
Nighttime Birds followed.
1999 saw the release of
How to Measure a Planet, a double album. It received excellent reviews from critics but many fans of the more metallic side of the group weren't so pleased, however, and it sold about two-thirds as much as its two predecessors. Many of the Gathering's fans did stay with the band, and, as the members have said, it brought them a whole new fanbase. Definitely a more experimental album. My favourite is Travel (lots of songs are on Space Travel) with its beautiful guitar playing.
if_then_else (2000)
More mellow (again ;-), and ambient (trip hop beats).
Black Light District (2002)
This is an EP but worth mentioning because of its title track, which is heavy and it has a suspenseful and adventurous build-up.
Studio version:
http://youtu.be/rQeRhmzv9kM
Souvenirs (2003)
Also has even more ambient sounds than
if_then_else but as a whole it is a better album.
http://youtu.be/kG9ugD_k1oY
http://youtu.be/iJwOM6Ip3hE
http://youtu.be/fKPJ15k4cV8
Home (2006) is a darker, sadder album. And the last with Anneke. My wife likes it a lot but it is criticized by many as being a bit too depressive (it was recorded in a church, and while recording the father of the two brothers (guitars + drums) died).
I guess the first four songs are pretty good but then it drops a bit in quality. Try these:
http://youtu.be/eEn2UFRdkyE (not official clip but couldn't find other clip of studio version)
http://youtu.be/WnZffx5g1Dk
The West Pole (2008) --> entrance Silje Wergeland
http://youtu.be/mzUG5hUA_78
http://youtu.be/_OMAyLxwh6A
http://youtu.be/3hR7N8SkHKU
Disclosure (2012)
http://youtu.be/6m-zhD8Qh9w
http://youtu.be/WCWhJpwNNBg
