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The Gathering
Biography
Creative, classy and highly refined "symphonic metal" outfit from Holland. First album (Always, 1993) was a fairly straightforward death metal album, although heavy use of keyboards made it stand out a bit from other such albums at the time. Followed by Almost A Dance (1994), an album which saw the departure of "growling" vocalist Bart Smits. Smits was replaced primarily by Niels Duffhues, a strange choice for the band; Duffhues' punk-ish tone was decidedly out of step with the music, and the album was largely written off as a result. A shame, because many of the songs on Almost A Dance are quite well written. The album also featured occasional vocals by Martine van Loon, a low-key singer with a pretty tone but one that seldom took to the forefront of a composition. It would appear that the seed had been planted in the band's head to try their uniquely compelling songwriting style with a passionate female vocalist; the result was the addition of the incomparable Anneke van Giersbergen, an incredible singer capable of stretching miles of emotion out of each and every syllable. The next album, 1995's Mandylion, remains one of the very best heavy metal albums ever recorded.
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