The world's best kept secret?

Review Score: (10/10)
The Gathering, for those uninitiated, are a Netherlands-based band, who do a sort of sometimes-spacey, semi-Goth rock, with incredible female vocals. While longtime fans of the band probably were a bit put off with the mellow, Pink Floyd-ish nature of their last album "How to measure a planet" (still one of my favorite albums of 1999), they should be pleased with this sort-of return to form. In fact, this album sounds like the album that should have come between the incredible "Nightime Birds" album and "How to measure". Less space-rock oriented, and a bit more gothic, while alternating between heavy riffing and melodic, moody passages. Easily one of the best albums I've heard this year, but you know what? They'll get no radio play or press in the States, and most people, as usual, will miss out on one the best bands out there. Their loss, I guess! (All Gathering fans should also try to check out a Norwegian band called Pale Forest and their two awesome albums "Transformation Hymns" and the recently released "Of machines and men" - similar to the Gathering, but perhaps a bit mellower and slightly more "organic", with a stunning female singer - worth searching for on the "Voices of Wonder" label!

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• Cant_Believe_Myself
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• Subtly Creeps on You
• Alternative rock music at its best...
• Takes time to grasp the subtelness (is that spelled right?)
• mature music for the evening
• This is THE BEST Dutch band around.
• A very special place in my music collection
• definitely NOT no doubt
• To make a short story long...
• Most mature and serene album of this band
• The Gathering continues to amaze me.
• If_Then_Else continues the grand tradition of The Gathering
• An interesting release
• Some_Thing_Else
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• Back in business
• Back in business