Description

Clear and blue splatter vinyl with lyric insert. Limited 399 copies

Dutch band The Gathering started out as an atmospheric doom/death metal act with the excellent “Always” album. Almost A Dance their second album showed some changes. Gone were the death metal vocals, as well as original vocalist Bart Smits. In its replacement we find some dark wave vocals by Niels Duffhues and female vocalist Martine van Loon is a step up from Marike’s performance on Always but still not even close to Anneke’s vocal performance that would come on future release. So this 1993 album was pretty much one-of-a-kind, a captivating blend of gothic wave/rock, doom and progressive metal. And these styles were dexterously stitched together by Rutten’s great melodic guitar pirouettes. The guys were by all means looking at wider audience than just the metal one, and must have stirred the spirits, at least on an underground level, as both gothic rock and doom metal were rising in stature worldwide. However, those who had fallen for the debut must have been horrified hearing this. The band sounded like an entirely new outfit, and may have not become the fanbase’s instant favourites as now no one was able to predict their next step. Well, at least on their third album, Mandylion, they didn’t go very far; if we exclude the main female vocals and the more pronounced doom metal flair the delivery wasn’t radically different. I find it hard to decide which album is better and Almost A Dance sounds like a logical step from the evolution of one of the most innovative and forward-thinking acts at the dawn of their career and they were in for bigger things to come

Track list:
1. On A Wave
2. The Blue Vessel
3. Her Last Flight
4. The Sky People
5. Nobody Dares
6. Like Fountains
7. Proof
8. Heartbeat Amplifier
9. A Passage To Desire