[Braver]

woohoo, the first time I saw a "real" band live! crap my ears buzz and every fiber in my body has been thoroughly rearranged, but man it's worth it!

ok, a couple of moments didn't really work, and the 2 or 3 guys who insisted on creating their own little moshpit for about one minute...morons...not the audience for it.

anyway, it was all good. especially Anneke! how can a small girl like that pull off those notes live, with such power?? and look the works while at it! man... the whole band was very tight tho! and the sound was loud, but good nonetheless, no warping or anything. perhaps the keyboards a bit louder next time, but seriously...way trippy one time, full blast riffage the next, and soaring vocals and guitars to top things off.

they near your place? do not miss it! you might not think they're metal since If-Then-Else, but see them live and tell me if you still believe that!

 

[DarkAngel]

We discussed this group at dark thread a couple times, I like them during "mandylion & night time birds" period, but don't care for new stuff at all............Dusty still likes them though.

 

[Braver]

Quote:

Originally posted by DarkAngel We discussed this group at dark thread a couple times, I like them during "mandylion & night time birds" period, but don't care for new stuff at all............Dusty still likes them though.

yea, I've read that part. well, I'm no metal head, and I think their newer stuff is fantastic, and Mandylion is ok... thats also really the crowd they get live, not that many black t-shirts and practically no long hair. except for the guys whocome for their old material ofcourse. y'know, not to generalise or anything, but it's a mixed and pretty laid-back audience.

 

[DarkAngel]

I probably should try "measure a planet" CD, I got the "if then else" CD and it was a big change from Night time Birds. I kinda of figured "planets" was a transition to the "if then" style so didn't get it. Dusty says it is one of his favorite albums as I recall.

I would also like to find a copy of CD that preceeded mandylion called "almost a dance"

 

[DarkAngel]

BTW, I have to mention I am huge fan of Netherlands based band Xymox, aka Clan of Xymox. I have all thier music and have been fan since early 1980's with 1st album release..........are you familiar with thier work?

 

[Braver]

yeah, a lot of Gathering fans seem to like Planets as well, even better than If-Then-Else anyway. I've yet to pick it up, basically cause of a under-impressed review from the Dutch Progressive Rock Pages, and it being a 2 CD. I'm itching to just go out and by it tomorrow tho...

but as I've read, the transition was supposed to be more "logical" if If-Then-Else came between Birds and Planet, since Planet was a very experimental and "proggy". supposed to have a lot of Pink FLoyd influences and lots of Pro-Tools experiments. I doubt you'll like it better than ITE.

their pre-Anneke material could be to your liking tho, according to what I've they were pretty original and powerfull, dark and heavy back then. and look out for their new album coming up in January. their aiming for more dark, more power and atmosphere and less pollish.

as for Xymox, I've never heard of them. I'm a bit of a wuss when it comes to metal-ish stuff

(assuming Xymox is some kind of metal) so when Í bumb into something special like The Gathering, I love it, but I don't really dig into the genre.

 

[Dusty Chalk]

Braver -- I wish. I've only seen The Gathering live once, and doubt I will ever again, living in America. They were amazing live. I spent most of my time in front of the bassist and the keyboardist, and Anneke, herself, is exquisitely and superlatively droolworthy. Plus she has a nice voice.

Also, Xymox/Clan Of is not metal, they're more in the alterna/goth type music. One of my favourite bands in the genre. Check out Twist of Shadows (you should be able to get it for cheap) or Clan of Xymox (from 1985) or their most recent, Notes from the Underground. Quote:

Originally posted by DarkAngel I probably should try "measure a planet" CD, I got the "if then else" CD and it was a big change from Night time Birds. I kinda of figured "planets" was a transition to the "if then" style so didn't get it. Dusty says it is one of his favorite albums as I recall.

Yes, it is far and away my favourite album by them. It is completely different than anything else they've ever done. Might not be dark enough for you. Not even metal, really. Hard rock, tops. Very melodic, though, the prettiest, most memorable music they've done, IMHO. The second disk is almost disposable, unless you're into psychedelic trippy jam-out type songs...which I am, but I understand that this is not the audience for them. Think of it as one disk with a bonus disk. There's a couple of other good tracks on the second disk, but they could have pared it down to one disk and released the rest as b-sides. They did this one track when I saw them live called "Vermillion" which was astoundingly good...went on for like 30 minutes...just surprisingly good. I have no idea whether or not you'd like it, based on what I know of your tastes. On the one hand, you like Switchblade Symphony and Lacuna Coil, so I would think you would like everything by them, but then you fooled me with if_then_else. I would recommend hearing it, at least. Quote:

I would also like to find a copy of CD that preceeded mandylion called "almost a dance"

Very different, no femme vox, much more "raw", much more "metal". Pretend it's a different band. KR, for example, might prefer their early stuff (though I doubt it). Try before you buy. There's also a recent 2CD release that's basically a compilation of most of their pre-Anneke stuff, Downfall, I think? There maybe more than the Always and Almost a Dance listed on AMG, I vaguely remember.