All of you who know The Gathering of their album era “Always”, have found in the year 2008 a great opportunity to remember this wonderful album which is no other than the release of the double cd “Downfall”.

27 tracks are included in this one (beginning from promo’s, unreleased ep, demo’s, rehearsal tapes, live) recorded during the period 1989-1993, with the vocals of Bart Smits, clearly depicting the death/doom period of the band before it transformed, with the addition of Anneke Van Giersbergen, to the atmospheric band known to most people. In this cd you will listen among others the Celtic Frost cover “Dethroned Emperor”, and numerous other tracks from their second album taped with the original singer of the “Always” era, Bart Smits.

It is absolutely certain that this release will alienate the fans of the Anneke era, as the atmospheric doom/death, with vocals sometimes clear and other times hoarse despite the use of keyboards, will sound unfamiliar in relation to the band everyone knows. However, friends of Celtic Frost, the early Paradise Lost, Anathema, My Dying Bride, Tiamat and Lake of Tears, can totally trust this double collection.

In general, the open-minded friends of hard music willing to listen and feel the darkness and melancholy beneath the hypnotic, heavy, atmospheric sound of The Gathering will ultimately cherish this collection. In wait then of the next crucial step of the band, let’s enjoy this shiny diamond from the past. Simply monumental.