The Gathering

and that is exactly how people should apprehend those new tracks... without the idea they neeed to compare... Like for each album, TG evolved and they offer now an album about who they now are, not about who they were 5 years ago...

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Maybe i'm paranoid, yeah that's my problem
You almost have to be when you look like me

These songs weren't designed for AVG... so no, your ears shouldn't think that either. If they do, your ears are wrong.

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Geezers need excitement.

My deception is about the instrumentations and not the singer.

If you listen seriously to The West Pole track and melodies, you feel like listening to a Home song. many TG fans like me can feel so.

the main problem is not only about accepting changes or the new singer, it's more about accepting the fact that they won't sound as creative and unique as before. Then everything would be fine i guess.

The West Pole looks like a strategical and commercial album to me anyway.

i strongly disagree. i just cant picture this album having commercial success, dont get me wrong though, im not saying the gathering is not able to have commercial success, but as we all have grown along with the band, "commercial success" has never been the driving force for this band as much as creating quality music.

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I hope you are right.... cause if you look at the band, see they're not fortunated as Metallica. The band is getting older, they have a family life and children and feel more responsible... so the lucrative side is natural and logical to me.

I think they (we?)re one of the most creative bands ever. Still nowadays, i don't know any song which sound like How to measure a Planet? or Black Light District.

If TG wanted to make a safe album commercially speaking, they would do a Mandylion 2 or htmap 2.
And I make a big difference between getting mainstream or just wanting to make an album that's simply more rock than what they ever done...

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Maybe i'm paranoid, yeah that's my problem
You almost have to be when you look like me

I don't think so, cause as far as i know, Rock style is more accessible than Metal.

I prefer to wait and hear the whole album, but I have the fear inside... Could it be? Please no... Damn! I want the whole album ASAP!!

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http://redpageband.com

Yes, Home had poppy qualities but that's only scratching the surface. What makes this band unique is that they take a certain style and expand on its ideologies and then some (Mandylion was the first metal album to utilize female vocals in a non-gothic way. And besides that, it's also different from other doom metal albums). You could also call HtMaP middle of the road alternative and you'd be missing the point. I thought the same thing at first myself but it's more than that. And that's why I always tell people to let it grow. I listen to everything from salsa to techno to grindcore and it still took quite a bit of time for me to fully appreciate each of their albums. Not saying everything they did was amazing but they are definitely one of those bands who require multiple listens. And I have no reason to believe that this album will be any different, especially since Hans himself said "typical The Gathering..".

I don't consider Mandylion a metal record at all. I always considered it rock.

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Geezers need excitement.

If that album is rock, then Alanis Morissette was the ultimate death metal vocalist.

Slow, crushing riffs, down tuned guitars, songs that range from mid length to long etc..

Some examples of the genre include Candlemass (they were the pioneers of this sound), Cathedral etc..

Five years earlier a band called "Fear Of God" released "Within The Veil", a very special metal album with non-gothic female vocals...

But "Mandylion" was something new in the "traditional" gothic metal genre.

Can't say I have heard that album but I wouldn't associate Mandylion with Gothic metal whatsoever. Traditional? I think you're thinking of "Almost a Dance", which played a role in the formation of gothic metal, along with Paradise Lost's "Gothic" in 91..

There have been female singers in metal bands, far before 1991.

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The Gathering pics

there's no doubt however that The Gathering - Mandylion was very influential in the metal scene.. and still regarded by many people as one of the best metal albums with female vocals ever.

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. van Giersbergen's poetic and
haunting lyrics, paired with the band's orchestral ruminations, resulted in darkly important songs that seamlessly blend from one to the next.

Full story at Allmusic Guide:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=am ... q85ldfe~T1

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Without music, life would be a mistake.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Check it out, it's worth it! If you like heavier stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNH0ReLS_bo



As I said, "Mandylion" was something new, but still gothicmetal-style - for my ears.

Nobody mentioned The 3rd And The Mortal...

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AFTER listening more to those three songs, the magnificent vocals of Silje made more sense to the compositions; I must say, I don´t need to wait for the whole album to see this is a great work; both: musically and the lyrics are amazing!! I am so glad now and all my fears are no longing there!!

The West Pole will be a great album, as it needed to be!!

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http://redpageband.com

It was allmusic that first lead to me checking out the Gathering about 4 years ago.I looked at the Symphonic Black Metal title clicked on that read the description - http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:11957
I can remember me thinking that sounds interesting - the Gathering were right at the top of the list.Thank You allmusic guide - I don't think I would have known about the Gathering otherwise - they are not exactly out there otherwise.I was into NWOBHM & mid seventies metal from about '79 onwards, as well as Prog rock from about '76 onwards.I never liked Motorhead & the later big 4 thrash metal bands (Mat., Meg etc.).I disliked death metal even more.Therefore, personally I would not have known about the Gathering thro.that genre.Perhaps I would have checked out the Doom/Goth side eventually - who knows really.