Gathering

Mandylion

Ahh, Miss van Giersbergen...

Review Score:

(10/10)
Preceding _Mandylion_ were two other the Gathering albums: the perfectly bland doom metal of _Always..._ and the obnoxiously bad _Almost a Dance_. These efforts were abandoned for the approach of _Mandylion_: soaring progressive metal led by the heavenly voice of Anneke van Giersbergen.

Stylistically, this is definitely metal, but it has a soft quality to it. Generally slow and carefully layered, the Gathering's music uses heaviness as an enhancement to its enchanting flow, which is the dominant characteristic. Keyboardist Frank Boijen gilds the clomping metal rhythms with resplendent (yet subtle) orchestrations, where radiant strains of van Giersbergen's voice float along. Although van Giersbergen has matured greatly as a vocalist since this album, her performance remains completely stunning. I admit, I'm in love with her voice. She could sing about triangles or celery and I would find it no less compelling than her own simple but evocative lyrics. Contrary to most female vocal styles in metal before _Mandylion_, she never screams or shrieks -- just melodious tides of feminine beauty. I could rave about Anneke van Giersbergen for quite a while, but that would be an injustice to the rest of the band, who write as a collective so they all deserve ample credit. Masterful work abounds on _Mandylion_: the achingly gorgeous melodies of "Leaves" speckled with keyboard stardust; the man-eating riff of "Fear the Sea"; the torrent of emotional pain on "In Motion" parts 1 and 2; the dry, autumn hues of the progressively exotic instrumental title track.

With the current hype surrounding the mainstream success of Evanescence (another heavy music w/ female vox kinda deal), it feels good to have identified such a good thing with the Gathering beforehand. One gets a pleasant feeling of knowing about a good thing sooner than other people pick up on it. Does that make sense? erm, this CD is good.

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