Artist: The Gathering
Label: Century Media
Release Date: 1995
Rating: 3 Skulls
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Title: Mandylion Artist: The Gathering Label: Century Media Release Date: 1995
Rating: 3 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Solomon:
Calling any of The Gathering's post-Always material "metal" is stretching it to say the least. However, the fact that everybody and their mother-in-law are using female vocals to garnish their metal nowadays, this band cannot be overlooked. Whether The Gathering can be credited with starting the female/gothic/metal trend can be debated, as older bands like Paradise Lost and Celtic Frost experimented with women singers. Other female-fronted groups like Lacuna Coil and Dreams of Sanity were kicking around about the time Mandylion arrived, but The Gathering are still a primary example of this type of heavy rock. For those who have not heard the record, Mandylion is a difficult listen for most metal-types to relate to. Songs like "Strange Machines" and "Eleanor" contain some fairly tough riffs, but for the most part Mandylion sounds like a metal project unable to fully break with the past on the way to a more prog/alternative sound. Much of the instrumental parts are simple and dull by the more aggressive standards of metal, although this is understandable considering the point here is to showcase the vocalist. The guitar team of Rutten and Wiersma are not making any attempts to be the next DeGarmo/Wilton, but they do a good job of accenting some of the songs with simple, memorable fills, particularly on "Eleanor" (0:31) and "In Motion #1" (5:01). Of course, the voice of Anneke van Giersbergen carries the day. Her heartfelt lyrics often touch on the typical subject of personal relationships, but topics of time travel ("Strange Machines") and nature ("Fear The Sea") are unique in or out of the metal genre. The chorus of "In Motion #1" and the verse of "Leaves" carry the most emotional impact on the record. Stuff like this is the whole reason men fall down and slobber before the throne of Anneke the Goddess. Unfortunately, the title track and "Sand and Mercury" are a serious drag on the rest of an already laid-back record. Fifteen minutes of endless Latin/African beats, synth backrounds, and endless chord strumming do not make a great instrumental. If they wanted to do an instrumental showcase, they should have been thinking more Dream Theater and less Yanni. I think records like How To Measure A Planet? and If_then_else are more in character with how this band should sound, but Mandylion helped open my mind to the idea that a pretty voice, swirling synths, and dirty guitars could actually sound decent together.
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