The Gathering
If Then Else

THE REVIEW

Reading 2000 as the release year on an album always makes an impression. Maybe it's those three consecutive zeros, or the thought of the millennium change, that euphoric period full of expectations (all more or less disillusioned), I don’t know. The fact is that in those years, a plethora of legendary albums were released, and now that a decade has passed, we can acknowledge it. I could list tons, metal and not. The fact is that in that 2000, the Gathering also decided to change, and in quite a radical way.

If with the previous, almost unparalleled How to measure a planet, they had given a proggy twist to the gothic metal of Mandylion and Nighttime birds, with If_then_else the five Dutch continued to push even further on unexplored musical paths: you will find the group's recent past and immediate future, which with this release breaks free definitively from its metallic chains and produces entirely new music, a music made of emotions as well as sounds, original and completely impossible to classify, so much so that the Dutch themselves would give it the name we all know too well: trip-rock. Now, those among you with an open mind and omnivorous listening habits will undoubtedly think of a movement that was reigning supreme in those years, a movement that sprouted in Bristol in the early Nineties and was defined as trip-hop. And it goes without saying that the mind would run to legendary groups like Portishead and Massive Attack, yet the music of the Dutch is of a completely different kind. To link the Gathering to the names I just mentioned is at most an ethereal female vocals (something they never missed) and certain expansive keyboard sounds (and many other kindred instruments). But the listener won't find in If_then_else any rap verses, or the repetitive drum typical of hip-hop; instead, they will find more guitar, much hand-played music and not programmed bases, even though the use of synthesizers and loops is not disdained. It is still rock, even if it should not be listened to when you want to unleash your inner energy, but perhaps in more reflective moments, perhaps music preferably listened to in a trip, and perhaps this is the only true sense enclosed in the curious definition invented by the Rutten brothers and their companions. Immediately, at first glance, an inescapable reflection of the sound change, one notices a marked change in the artwork. No longer the cold and sulphurous graphical, spatial, Soviet-philosophical predecessor, but blurred images, urban images, taken at night at the entrance of a subway. Streetlight lights framing the various band members, or in any case, the lights of a recording studio resting on various objects; from my memories now emerges a vibraphone, an object chosen far from randomly, perhaps as an emblem of the enormous variety of instruments used to produce this extraordinary album.

The opening is pure emotion: over a dark and synthetic sound rises Anneke’s solitary voice, a chill that envelops all the senses and coldly caresses the spine: outrun the fight/ i used to hide/ in quiet places, and then the rest of the band bursts in to give shape to Rollercoaster, which seems like a continuation of the previous album in its slow yet majestic, sweet and rocky procession simultaneously. The following Shot to Pieces travels over the same sound waves but at a much faster pace, a constantly evolving track that immediately seeps into the listener's ears and unleashes uncontrolled head movements. A sudden and unexpected change of atmosphere brings Amity, the first true masterpiece and now a classic in the group’s repertoire. It is the song that comes closest to the trajectories drawn by the trip hop mentioned earlier: repetitive and synthetic bases, unique instruments, an expanded and restless atmosphere, alluring vocals, psychological lyrics that crown it all wonderfully. Six minutes of history, magnificent and unforgettable. Still on slow rhythms, however guided by a simple and reassuring guitar chord, the next gem unfolds, Bad Movie Scene, which slowly grows and explodes in the finale. It is followed by The Colorado Incident, which retrieves the sounds of the opening tracks but has a hard time being remembered, just like the following Beautiful War. However, this is a two-minute instrumental interval that, being placed in the middle of the journey, ends up becoming a true watershed in the album, sharply dividing the first part from the second. At this point, it comes to mind that this music is much more suited to embrace the increasingly introspective and intimate lyrics of Anneke Van Giersbergen. Personally, a song I am madly in love with, like Eleanor, had always made a strange impression on me with its union of a base on the brink of death and lyrics about a quarrel between friends; which also suggests that the change in sound is largely due to the entry of the tulip, but also that in the end, it is not a bad change, because it provides our music with further depth and thickness.

Now coming to the "second part," which takes shape on the autumnal atmospheres of Analogue park, we find ourselves in front of a much calmer and homogeneous atmosphere, but also much richer in nuances, much more suggestive. Here the keyboards definitively take over the guitars and begin to draw pure sensations: images of rain and evening, streetlights and urban scenarios, just as hinted at in the artwork. Sensations fully confirmed by Herbal Movement, introduced by a recitation from Alice in Wonderland (the segment featuring the Caterpillar, and excuse me if I see a rather clear subliminal message here). Herbal Movement is a song in which, as the chorus states, everything is lazy, given how each sound is prolonged and suspended, but it is above all yet another song of blinding beauty, another song that takes the breath away. Perhaps my favorite. And moving from wonder to wonder arrives the other great classic of the album, Saturnine, a fragile string ballad on which every word is useless, also because I imagine that each of you reading has already heard it quite a few times. Then comes forward Morphia’s waltz, a track that encapsulates its essence in its title, a paced and dreamy track, a lullaby with which the band prepares to leave us. Almost relegated as a bonus track, since it is separated by a minute of pure silence, there is still room for Pathfinder. This last chapter is also truly suggestive and quirky, another instrumental composition that is decidedly difficult to describe.
And silence.

If_then_else is thus a connecting link in a magical trio of albums that slots in perfectly between the alluring coldness of How to measure a planet and the warm humidity of Souvenirs. Three releases that alone are worth the discography of many other bands, three albums that I like one more than the other. Sure, If_then_else could be labeled as a transitional and undecided album between staying anchored to the past or freely letting go of something new. In reality, this album, in my opinion, finds one of its strengths in its great stylistic variety. The other strength lies in the courage of five people who were not afraid of disappointing fans in order to follow their expressive need.

Few bands open their hearts to serve it on a twelve-centimeter-diameter platter. 

1. "Rollercoaster" - 4:45
2. "Shot to Pieces" - 4:10
3. "Amity" - 5:57
4. "Bad Movie Scene" - 3:49
5. "Colorado Incident" - 4:53
6. "Beautiful War" - 2:32
7. "Analog Park" - 6:05
8. "Herbal Movement" - 4:10
9. "Saturnine" - 5:11
10. "Morphia's Waltz" - 6:37
11. "Pathfinder" - 4:38
 

9.5