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Rating: Many fans are still waiting for a new "Mandylion," a return to the atmospheric doom of the past, to show all the bands that draw inspiration from their masterpiece even today, the ultimate superiority of the masters.
But this remains and will remain a simple wish of nostalgic listeners; the watchword in The Gathering's discography (undoubtedly one of the greatest musical realities circulating today and active for almost twenty years) has always been evolution, so much so that today we can no longer label the Dutch quintet's offerings in any way, so many are the territories it explores. How many bands boast a compositional approach that transcends any restriction imposed by the necessities of classification? Unfortunately, today there are very few left. They are authors of art for refined palates, it's clear, but they can still satisfy everyone: from progressive enthusiasts to psychedelic rock fans, from gothic lovers to those who adore Radiohead and Muse; but I am sure that even jazz, electronic, and the most sophisticated pop enthusiasts will find something to their taste in their latest releases. It takes courage to carry forward this line of thought, this open-minded attitude, and the beautiful Anneke Van Giersbergen and her band have shown they have it in unlimited quantities, releasing in recent years numerous albums, masterpieces after masterpieces, each different from the previous one.
In 2004, the decision was made to immortalize the live dimension of a tour suspended between the intimacy of an acoustic concert and the psychedelia brought by the almost minimal use of electronic components, with the fantastic "Sleepy buildings - A semi-acoustic evening" (perhaps the most beautiful record in my collection). Recorded during the two dates held in 2003 at the Lux Theatre in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, the album contains over an hour of refined reinterpretations of songs taken here and there from the band's entire discography (even the first two albums "Always" and "Almost a dance," in which Anneke was not yet present, were not excluded), with the exception of "Souvenirs," published only a year earlier by Psychonaut Records. Behind this penalizing choice lies the record label of the past, Century Media (with this album the Dutch band will definitively end relations with the label, increasingly prone to musical interference and major label behavior). In any case, nothing can impair the absolute quality of this product, witness to a sound dimension so congenial to these musicians that it elevates them to the status of deities of contemporary music.
The magnificent sound excursion of the disc begins with "Locked away," all supported by the acoustic guitar (on this occasion wielded by Anneke herself) and made almost unsettling by the piano touches at the end. Among the most successful episodes, I dare to mention the second and third tracks, namely "Amity" and "Saturnine," enchanting and full of greater pathos than what enlivened them in "If_Then_Else" (thanks to the minimalism that envelops them everything becomes more direct, touching, intense). "The mirror waters," suspended between jazz, psychedelic rock, and ethereal gothic, seems to be taken from one of their latest albums, yet it belongs to a glorious and distant past. The sounds become spatial and futuristic with "Red is a slow colour," and then a simple yet joyful piano riff introduces us to the new track that gives the album its title, all built around the lively notes of the ivory keys and yet another superb performance by Anneke. The electric guitar bursts into "Travel," a long composition echoing Pink Floyd, taken from the controversial "How to measure a planet," only to give way to the melancholy of "Shrink" and "In motion part II," respectively taken from "Nighttime Birds" and "Mandylion." A new version of the old "Stonegarden" follows, where a compositional approach still linked to metallic standards is clearly heard, but meticulously revisited in an acoustic and minimal key.
"My electricity" is delicate and envelops the limbs, the soul's strings vibrate, eyes tear. But here comes "Eleanor," one of the most famous and appreciated songs by fans, which perhaps is the only one to lose bite compared to the original (this version is more subdued and less evocative, but a superb piano arrangement, not present in the one recorded for "Mandylion," deserves mention). "Marooned," a track this time supported by bass and drums, very minimal but with an unquestionably effective impact, once again suspends us between liquid settings and prog reminiscences. To close in beauty, there's "Like fountains," the quintessential gothic moment of the platter. Its moving resignation and that disarming veil of sadness that enshrouds it will remain forever imprinted, like an indelible mark, in the listener's memory.
Each of the fifteen songs on the setlist enhances the effusive keyboard arrangements, the piano's delicacy, the acoustic guitar's euphony, the enveloping warmth of the rhythmic section, as well as Anneke's wonderful voice, impeccable on a technical level, author of thrilling variations and intimate moments where everything becomes rarefied and impalpable, of moments of intensity that gracefully pervade the heart, move the soul. A constant thrill, an emotional sincerity that distinguishes them from mere musicians and last-minute artists. And the admirable and perpetual silence of the audience during the performance is no more than the most disarming demonstration of how The Gathering can immobilize the listener's body to set in motion the soul's engine, free to travel toward infinity. Keats famously stated: "A thing of beauty is a joy forever". Well, if he had listened to this masterpiece, he surely would have had one more reason to believe it.
Tracklist and Lyrics
01 Locked Away (03:35)
No sense at all
do what you want
you will obey
For I will hunt you
Untill you will be
Locked away
just so you'll be
scared of me
Behind my power
I will hide all my fears
Now you are punished
For absolutely nothing
And I feel so good
Because once more
I don't have to be honest
With myself
While you're locked away
Just so you'll be
scared of me
behind my power
I will hide all my fears
I will hide all my fears
03 My Electricity (03:23)
I send your name
up into the sky
And the wind blows it back into my face
You see, even nature
reacts on me
And all my electricity
will make it across your sea
With every wave the sea makes
My body gets weaker
and weaker.... and weaker..
You see, even nature
reacts on me
And all my electricity
will make it across your sea
And provides you
with my love
04 Eléanor (05:32)
underneath the mask you've buried yourself into
it's coal-black
i am tired of the gulping that you do
every day a new face
what if i unscrew
your own identity
wouldn't you guess there's nothing left of you?
the quicksand of life drags us
down into the circle
one day. we might not catch you
i feel sorry for what you try to do
breaking others down. to try and to pursue
your own selfish interests
i am starting to get sick of you
whatever happened ever since you left
you make yourself and me look like fools
05 Marooned (05:30)
I know from a lesser tribe
I suppose the range of my intelligence
is way too wide
And you don't see me
'cause I don't have much to say
My emotional outlet
is consuming the better part of me
And apart from the wrong words
a tortured cry is making me see
That you don't see me
'cause I don't have much to say
hours and hours of jealousy
are passing me by
Although hollow silence
is the only wave
going through your brain
And you don't see me
'cause I don't have much to say
07 Saturnine (04:55)
The day you went away
You had to screw me over
I guess you didn't know
all the stuff you left me with
is way too much to handle
But I guess you don't care
You don't need to preach
you don't have to love me, all the time
Whatever on earth possessed you
to make this bold decision
I guess you don't need me
While whispering those words
I cried like a baby
hoping you would care
You don't need to preach
you don't have to love me, all the time
You don't have to preach
all the time
08 Amity (05:52)
The torture won't part you
Motherly breast won't warm you
You fail and foam from your mouth
why is it so loud, this sound?
All the sense your are capable of
does not seem to save you
You heed the glance of a smile
Was it impossible to float for a while?
Restless is carrying fever
burning you to pieces
In search and need of a friend
Will I bow down to this in the end?
I lay in the hands of my maker
and I want to spend the rest of it awake
Why do I get the feeling they'll brake it
It's a fight... it's a fight...
The torture won't part you
Mothers lap can't seem to warm you
You strain, you climb up and frown
Why is it so loud, This down?
All the sense you are capable of
does not seem to save you
You heed the glance of a smile
Was it impossible to float for a while?
I lay in the hands of my maker
And I want to spend the rest of it awake
Why do I get the feeling they'll brake it
It's a fight... it's a fight
10 Red Is A Slow Colour (05:39)
The black house in in my street
looks too dark just to go inside
But when I do
I cannot move because of
the mess in the hallway
The picture on the wall is chaotic
I don't want to look at it
But when I do
I cannot speak because of
the confusion in my head
I am unfit and I want to leap away
But when I do
The red colour comes after me
It is fierce and it moves slow
The picture on the wall is chaotic
I don't want to look at it
But when I do
I cannot speak because of
the confusion in my head
I am unfit and I want to leap away
But when I do
The red colour comes after me
It is fierce and it moves slow
12 Travel (09:08)
Melodic stanzas
are symphonizing their way
through your weary head
To feed your distrust
And fill it's mouth with the desire
to soulfully be one with your creation
Not a subject to control
you call upon a higer power
for help and inspiration
The crowd waits
and turns their faces
towards you expectantly
you give them what they need
But their useless criticism
makes you die
a bit more inside
Not a subject to control
you call upon a higer power
for help and inspiration
Oh, I swoon
while loudspeakers play soft music
Leaning
over your fourtieth masterpiece
You must have loved
the colour of these violins
I wish I knew you
Your fit of insanity makes me sad
I wish you knew
your music was to stay forever
And I hope....
I have no clue
if you know how much it matters
And i hope....
13 Shrink (02:59)
To feel this great urge
To hold and embrace you
I slowly dry out
I shrink and shrink
Until I'm gone
Nothing to make out of me
Oh what the hell went wrong
My heart gets pulled out
Into your direction
It's no use
You have forsaken me
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