The Gathering
Disclosure

I was very curious to listen to this new album by the Gathering; I loved some of their old albums which are, to me, little masterpieces: "How to measure a planet", "Mandylion", "If then else" and "Souvenir" remain of perpetual interest for me towards the Dutch combo, just like the memory of Anneke's unforgettable and extraordinary voice, now replaced by Siljian, who has already proven herself in the previous, and in my opinion not too interesting, "The west pole", which I continue to consider a transition album that saw light during possibly the most challenging period of the Gathering's career, that is, the departure of the singer (who in their case was also the frontman and image of the band) and the entrance of the substitute.

The curiosity for the quality of this new "Disclosure" was also accompanied by that of comparing the new Gathering to the new Anneke, who has recently released the first (beautiful) work that exclusively bears her name without being accompanied by that of a band (the now archived agua de annique). The response is as simple as perhaps expected: Anneke has changed, the Gathering have not. In Van Giersbergen's latest "everything is changing" you will find a more relaxed, more "easy", more commercial Anneke, without losing her magnificent voice and her live charisma, and with a now considerable compositional capability, given that her songs are mainstream rock without ever being trivial or repetitive. The Gathering, instead, remain within the realm of introspective, ethereal music, light years away from the concept of commercial music, experimenting with distant sounds, at times almost space-like, and allowing themselves an album true to their dimension. "Disclosure" is, in my view, a work made without haste, composed taking all the necessary time without paying attention to times, fashions, or trends. They are the Gathering of today who, overcoming the trauma of a few years ago, rediscover their essence and their identity, giving the right space to creativity, experimentation, and experience.

Listen to "heroes for ghosts", maybe watch the videoclip to also give your eyes the pleasure of enjoying this track. 10 minutes in which Siljie gives her best confirming to be very different from Anneke but just as good. You will hear distant sounds and dreamy voices alternating, gently guiding you to an instrumental piece first and to a more rock exit at the end, which will leave you speechless for the simplicity and naturalness with which this difficult exercise in style is performed. This track alone would probably warrant buying the CD, but it would be a pity to miss the opener "paper waves", where the delay of the initial riff takes us back to "shortest day" times, and with a refrain that you will remember already after the first listen. The single "meltdown" instead is probably the most rock and "modern" piece of the series, with electronic inserts and overdrive guitars where Siljie's voice intertwines with that of the guest Frank Boeijen. Here too, in the 8-minute duration, there is space for some instrumental digressions and for a decisive stylistic change that divides the track into two parts, each with very different characteristics from the other.

Gemini is also very beautiful: the first part characterized by the typical Gathering sound and here too by a Siljie really at ease and capable of giving us melodies as simple as they are pleasant, the second part (or rather the reprise, as it closes the album) is exclusively electronic and vocal. "Missing seasons" with its 3 and a half minutes is the shortest track but no less successful, while "I can see four miles" (9 minutes) offers, after the first 3 minutes sustained by Siljian's voice and few other sounds, an excellent instrumental ensemble, where heavily processed sounds, keyboards, and driving rhythms intertwine and give life to perfect and claustrophobic rock psychedelia, which like a mad splinter launches shards of sound uncontrollably in every direction.

This is "Disclosure", far from the metal of the beginnings and from the concept of "commercial music" where the guitars blend with the other instruments and do not demand the role of primadonnas, the tracks are generally long and need a few listens to be fully appreciated. It's an album made by the Gathering for the Gathering, without chains, without obligations, 100% sincere and mature.