HOW TO MEASURE A PLANET ?

The first four Gatheringalbums gave a good motivation to fit them into the Progressive Metal category but from here on things change drastically. The leaving of second guitar player Jelmer Wiersma partly turns out to be a blessing in disguise, because at the time that several Mandylion/Nighttime birds-clones pop up from other bands, The Gathering builds its new niche.

In their new soft vein, The Gathering deliver many very beautiful songs (Frail, Great ocean road, Red is a slow colour, Travel, Illuminating, to name a few). A slight drawback might be that some of the songs have a certain sameness towards them (a typical double-disc phenomenon as well).

The second disc is the most experimental one, with the instrumental opener pointing towards future releases and Probably built in the fifties containing probably their best guitar part. The title track has its moments, but 28 minutes is a bit overlong in this context.

While they may have better albums, this is one of their most historically important records to date.