Changing a vocalist is big thing for any band. They are so many cases in which the departure of the singer marked the beginning of ascending career for the member that left and a descending one for the band that he or she left behind. A couple of brief and clear examples would be Iron Maiden & Bruce Dickinson, Judas Priest & Rob Halford and Nightwish & Tarja Turunnen.

Therefore when a band that has achieved success with a certain vocalist comes to search for a replacement, there are two avenues that it can follow. One is to go with a singer that radically differs from his or her predecessor, eg. Tristania & Mariangela Demurtas. The other is to choose a voice that is as close as possible to the departing member, eg. Judas Priest & Tim “Ripper” Owens.

At this point I can hear certain voices from the back of the room (especially from my chief editor) shouting “Cut to the chase!”. Ok, ok… Roughly two years ago Anneke van Giersbergen announced her departure from The Gathering. In 2009 the band announced the name of her replacement and confirmed that they were recording new album. The title of this album is “The West Pole” and it is its review that you are reading right now. Ever since 1998 and their fifth album entitled “How To Measure A Planet”  The Gathering have demonstrated that they wanted to move away from the constrictions of the gothic/doom metal scene which they had been a part of in the beginning of their career. Just like Anathema they too selected a more alternative musical direction which bloomed in their next albums and appears once more in their latest release.

The guitars remain distorted but it is a distortion more reminiscent of alternative rock rather that heavy metal. The keyboards, even if they don’t play as much role as they did on previous albums still play a part in the band’s sound and the Gathering’s fondness for longwinded tracks is once more honored here, which in turn creates the enchanting but also melancholic atmosphere that we all know and love.

And now for the vocals… Since the music offers no radical departures, let’s see if the vocals do. Silje Wergeland who replaced Anneke does not sound like her predecessor. Mainly because she is a mezzo soprano where as Anneke is a light lyrical soprano. For those who do not know the difference let me use a easy example. A well known mezzo soprano in metal is Simone Simons of Epica. Now can we have some air for those who fainted at the thought of the Gathering going symphonic metal, please? This is not the case. Of course certain tracks, such as “The Constant Run” that brings the album to a close could remind someone of Nightwish in an alternative rock mood but on the whole this album does not have the epic qualities of the Finnish metalers. The voice of Siljie, I would say, sounds more like Maggie Reilly with a touch of Dolores O' Riordan in certain places but much more ethereal. All in all I think that the Gathering have clearly won this round…