HOW TO MEASURE A PLANET ?

"How to Measure a Planet?" is the fifth full-length studio album by Dutch gothic metal/atmospheric rock act The Gathering. The album was released through Century Media Records in November 1998. It´s the successor to "Nighttime Birds" from May 1997. There´s been one lineup change since the preceding album as guitarist Jelmer Wiersma decided to leave. He has not been replaced here and The Gathering therefore continued as a quintet on "How to Measure a Planet?".

"How to Measure a Planet?" is a double album release (or a two-disc release), featuring one disc containing nine tracks, and another disc featuring five tracks. The latter closing with the 28:32 minutes long title track (which is a very long ambient, atmospheric, and predominantly instrumental track). So it´s safe to say that it´s a massive release featuring a wealth of material and "How to Measure a Planet?" is an album which requires time and attention to fully appreciate.

Stylistically the material on "How to Measure a Planet?" signals a change in direction, as The Gathering have more or less cut the metal oriented elements from their sound. There´s some distortion on the guitars here and there and the music can also be both gloomy and heavy, but not in a heavy metal fashion. Instead the material on "How to Measure a Planet?" is in more a melancholic, atmospheric, and only occasionally heavy progressive rock style. Lead vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen takes the front seat more than ever, and her strong and distinct sounding vocals and delivery dominate the album. The instrumental part of the music is focused on supporting the vocals and the often mellow and subtle use of clean guitars and keyboards works well with the melancholic vocal lines. There´s some great and varied drumming and bass playing heard throughout the album too, and that part of the music is certainly worth a mention. I appreciate how drummer Hans Rutten often toy with rhythms which could just as well have been featured on a trip hop album. Given the time of release, the trip hop influence isn´t that surprising and it all sounds very natural.

"How to Measure a Planet?" features an organic, powerful, and detailed sound production, which perfectly suits the material. There´s sonic depth here which this music needs and which ultimately helps the material shine. Upon conclusion "How to Measure a Planet?" is the natural next step for The Gathering. It was already obvious on "Nighttime Birds" that they weren´t gonna be a heavy metal related act for their entire career, and while the shedding of their metal elements maybe came a bit sooner than I expected, The Gathering come out on top and they master this new non-metal oriented style with both great skill and conviction. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).