The Gathering
Afterwords

I always enjoy listening to an album by The Gathering because even though I don't know what to expect, I'm sure it will be a pleasant, surprising, and precious experience.

Their history is a blossom of ideas and a carousel of stylistic changes that brought them from the gothic doom of their beginnings to this "Afterwords", passing through a crescendo of popularity over the years with the unforgettable Anneke Van Giersbergen, who is now busy with her solo career.

Listening to this latest work from the band from Oss, their innate experimental streak becomes evident, their desire to manipulate sounds, to explore something alternative and new, and once again they manage to deliver an album that's outside the box. “Afterwords” is essentially a CD (or vinyl if you prefer) of almost entirely instrumental tracks, which in several cases (see “Gemini III” or “Fading In, Tuning Out”, for example) revisit tracks from the previous “Disclosure”, rearranging and transforming them into genuine “remixes”. I say remix because this time The Gathering enjoy playing with electronics and absolutely synthetic and "spacey" sounds, so much so that I don't think I'm exaggerating by describing the style of this "Afterwords" as a cross between Depeche Mode and Massive Attack!

The sensation that pervades the listener is that of being surrounded by sound waves, at times sweet, sometimes almost Pink Floyd-like; listen to the ending “Barenfelds” to understand what I mean… the concluding part of the piece, besides revisiting the beautiful “Heroes For Ghosts” from the previous album, ends with a paranoid synth that bears a close resemblance to “On the Run” from “The Dark Side of the Moon”… Another surprise is the participation of the band's first singer, Bart Smits (indeed the voice in “Always…”), who features in the track "Afterwords". The only negative aspect I feel like pointing out is the almost total absence of Silje's voice, which in this album is definitely relegated to the background, “overpowered” by the search for sounds and “absorbed” into the unity of music, soul, mind, and heart that these 8 tracks manage to generate.

The continuity with “Disclosure” is strong, starting from the cover, very similar to the previous one; there’s no point in discussing the new tracks and remixes... here everything is one thing, constantly changing and blending different elements. In my opinion, this “Afterwords” should not be considered so much as a real album but rather an addition to the previous work; no rock or psychedelia in this chapter, but only "synthetic" music and unleashed emotions, far from everything The Gathering have done so far.