The Gathering - Mandylion (1995)

When I showed the record a friend once, who had no idea about the band, he remarked that "this looks like classical music", I think this spontaneous, and not really qualified, assessment is actually quite suiting. This is miles away from mainstream rock and metal. In fact, it is not a trivial question where to put The Gathering really. A fact, which I find actually quite delightful. Is it gothic? symphonic? prog? All of the above? Does it matter?

Anyway, I discovered the band while everyone else was into stuff like Nightwish (once again I dutifully did exactly what everyone else wasn't doing). Goes without saying that I was appealed by the more edgy and experimental sound of The Gathering, despite being quite "symphonic" in their own way. They music is without a doubt quite heavy and dark, almost wagnerian at times, while it also shows some (for the genre) unusual instrumentation and airy colourfulness, creating an interesting and appealing mix.

I find it always fascinating to see the development some bands go through and The Gathering are a good example for a band that changed quite a lot over the years. They started in the late 80's as a doom and death metal band, yet as of Anneke van Giersbergen's arrival in the band for Mandylion, their sound has distinctively and lastingly changed and dramatically expanded its scope.
And certainly, her expressive voice fits ideally to their music. Not as sweet and angelic as so many other female symphonic metal singers, but with an edginess that happily deviates from the norm and works well with the band's overall experimental-attitude.

Still, certain elements still hint to their past. Especially the guitar work: heavy riffing with long held power chords and melodylines is certainly doom-influenced. Interestingly the result is actually quite Pink Floydian as well. Just think Dogs of War and Sorrow.

In later albums, starting with How to Measure A Planet, they began to abandon their metal roots more and more and moved towards a experimental, sometimes ambient-like direction. Something the band itself described as trip-rock - undeniably a quite suiting term.

Mandylion is a colourful, highly enjoyable album. Beautifully composed and executed. It shows a band able of writing songs that are complex and varied on the one hand, but at the same time catchy and beautiful.
The Gathering might not be everyone's taste, but in a genre like metal, with so many conventions and stylistic uniformity, an album like Mandylion is a more than welcome departure from the norm. It's actually quite needed.