Holland's Gathering shows it's a small world, after all

The Gathering is easily not a familiar name for American music fans. In their native Holland, however, this band is one of the biggest music acts around. The group, which has been together for close to 10 years now, is well-known by Anneke van Giersbergen's charismatic singing.

In the beginning, the band had a heavy rock sound with dark overtones. Over the years it has softened up but has lost none of the melancholy feel. On the group's new double CD release, "How To Measure a Planet?" the group seems to have come into a sound that has the lush pop sound of the Cranberries but has also the mournful feeling of The Cure.

"Frail" sets the mood with its mid-tempo pace and pretty guitar parts. Anneke hypnotically sings, "I bleed for you, I voluntarily give myself." The mellow feel of most of the songs make it perfect listening for those lonely late nights.

Anneke's performance on this release is strong, emotional and self assured. She bears a very commanding presence and has a way of getting the listener's attention.

The band does go for distorted guitars occasionally, but the parts are always used in subtle textural ways and do not take away from the mood set. The group dips into two intriguing instrumentals on the second disc with "South American Ghost Ride" and the title track "How To Measure a Planet?"

They may not be as big here in the US as they are in Holland, but given a chance, they could probably establish a pretty loyal following.

03-16-99