The Gathering
Limited EP
Progressive/Industrial Rock

In 2002, Black Light District was released as the first production of the band's own label Psychonaut Records. For the 12.5-year anniversary of The Gathering, the band released three new songs on an EP. Unfortunately, the quality of the print is not very good, which of course does not detract from the quality of the music and the sound.

The development of the style from the previous album “if_then_else” was continued. Alternative rock, progressive rock and trip hop merge into one. Add to that the wonderful voice Anneke van Giersbergens, the singer at the time, and we already have a gem in our hands. The mood is much darker, which…

...is immediately noticeable in the first (and at 16:22 a long) song “Black Light District”. The intro starts with just a piano, after just over two minutes the drums slowly join in, followed by the bass. From 02:40 the guitar joins in and the tempo picks up a bit. Anneke starts with spoken vocals from 03:39. Then sung text overlays the spoken text. The following instrumental middle section increases the intensity significantly and drives us to the climax, only to then drop significantly in intensity. The last part starts at 10:16 and at 12:36 we hear Anneke's clear voice, again spoken vocals. The rhythm of the words is wonderfully melodic, despite all their darkness, and for me it is the part of the song that captivates me the most. “Black Light District” is clearly the highlight of the EP. I leave the interpretation of the text to the interested listeners. Couldn't the last vocal part be the Black Light District itself?

Song two, “Debris”, sounds much more groovy. “Your going down with me”, everything much more aggressive, but also more playful, shorter at 04:35, sums up well where The Gathering was stylistically in 2001.

For me, “Broken Glass” in the piano version is the second highlight of this EP, which has been in my CD player for many years. My tip: enjoy Anneke's wonderful voice, accompanied only by the piano, with headphones. Not via Spotify, either CD or vinyl. A magnificent 3:30 at the end.

The EP contains four multi-media tracks.

Conclusion? 11/10 points if I were to give points.

The Gathering 2002

• Anneke van Giersbergen: vocals

• René Rutten: Guitar

• Hugo Prinsen Geerligs: Bass

• Frank Boeijen: Keyboard

• Hans Rutten: Drums

www.gathering.nl
www.bandcamp.com

The photos are all from my CD. The rights to all motifs, logos, texts and fonts that can be seen in the photos are of course owned by the copyright holder.