Alternative Weekend: The Gathering

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It’s not often a new band clicks with me. The last one was Lush in early 2020, over three years ago.

As usual it’s taken me many plays for these songs to register apart from ‘Leaves’ which was an insta-click, something almost unheard of.

YouTube tends to link me a lot of crap, but I listen to it anyway. It’s supposed to pave the way for music similar to what you listen to often and this time it was a rare hit.

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I listened to some Death Metal tune along with the usual growling and then all of a sudden an apparition of a female singer with an infectious smile appears and manages to get her voice across the entire din. It takes some doing, and I was smitten from the first listen and had to dig more.

I am sure @verhp11 is very aware of this band being from Holland but singing in English and may well have featured them within his past writings.

From what I can gather (no pun intended), the band took off after recruiting a new vocalist for their new album Mandylion in 1995.

Leaves – The Gathering (Mandylion – 1995)

I am listening to 'The Gatherings' most revered album as I write this article. Heavy stuff is my feeling, and I mean metal, there's no doubt about that. 'Eleanor' I am told is a crowd pleaser and always played live.

However, it is 'Leaves' that brought them attention within the Metal community, and I can understand why. From a quiet opening sequence I could attribute to a number of progressive style bands, it explodes with the awesome voice of Anneke van Giersbergen and barely lets up from there.

Those Doom Metalheads must have realised they had a winner on their hands when they heard that voice, and laid eyes on that infectious smile of hers.

Nighttime Birds – The Gathering (Nighttime Birds – 1997)

Two years later and the band released their second album with Anneke van Giersbergen as the vocalist. Nighttime Birds was a darker sound and from what I have heard so far, more industrial than the energetic, rambunctious sounds of Mandylion.

This track took me a few listens to digest. The gloom and doom finally took it's toll and wore me down, though the chorus if you can call it that, fails to explode somewhat.

At over 6 minutes, it does get into your brain and I have found myself tormented short-term with an annoying Nighttime Birds earworm. I hope it fucks off, for although I like the song that's a little much.

This title track contains a melancholic epic edge all the way through. If you are in a dark place, then listening to this may be a particularly bad idea. Try Barbie Girl as an alternative.

Waking Hour – The Gathering (Home – 2006)

Let's skip a few albums and several years and move to the last album Anneke sang on before leaving the band one year later. 'The Gathering' would recruit another female vocalist and continue, but in my opinion 'Silje Wergeland' does not have the raw power of Anneke.

'Home' is a more subdued effort from what I have heard so far. Could it be the rockers were ageing and their music was turning a little more mellow.

If so, I am glad as this is rather good although you will need to listen to it a few times (like me) to hear that. That voice, fucking hell, it's up there with the best female vocalists I have heard and touching on the quality of the legend that is 'Agnetha Fältskog'.

This brings me to the song that popped up on my YouTube feed. It's some bloke growling away with hair all over his face so you can't tell who's under it.

I wasn't taken with it and am still not a fan. When Anneke popped up, well that got my attention. Strange where these music links take you, isn't it?

I suspect I will be listening to a lot more 'The Gathering' in the next few weeks. There has to be more gems to unearth within their extensive discography. These Dutch bands are not half unusual.

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