review by: Roberto Martinelli

The Gathering has been steadily developing this style that their fledgling label, Psychonaut, is pushing as trip rock. This style is kind of like trip hop, but with “trip” being the being the main ingredient and “hop” being nigh nonexistent; something that’s vaguely in the sme category as Portishead, but much less electronic and scratchy. You know, the kind of stuff that was found in songs like “Amity,” songs that blend the melancholic feel that the beautiful vocals of Anneke Van Giersbergen does with music that is sort of jazzy, sort of loungey, and totally great. Sure, this once cheesy doom metal band has been becoming less and less metal since their first Van Giersbergen-fronted record, but so what? People who will have a problem with that will have long since abandoned this band.

Souvenirs is a much less adventurous affair than the previous record, if_then_else. That is to say, The Gathering aren’t throwing in so many different types of songs and feels this time. Rather, Souvenirs is very much a cut and dried album made up of 10 songs. The record is much quieter, something that is greatly made so by elements as obvious as an even less rock approach to the songs, or less obvious elements like the drummer playing with a closed hi-hat this time.

Fans of this often copied, never replicated group will not be disappointed with Souvenirs. There are a few really superb songs, like “Broken Glass” and “You Learn about It,” which have the record’s most exquisite vocal melodies and choruses. The rest of the songs all have something nice to offer, but the last two tracks are pretty ho-hum. There is some hype about the last track, on which Kris Rygg (of Ulver and Jester Records) sings a duet with Van Giersbergen. You might be hoping for a vocal performance along the line of his last, excellent work on Arcturus’ The Sham Mirrors, but it’s turns out to be nondescript and passable.

Although Hans Rutten, The Gathering’s drummer, seems to think if_then_else was largely a hurried mess (read more about that in the interview with Rutten in this issue), this Gathering fan would heartily disagree. While Souvenirs is a welcome addition to this wonderful band’s discography, if_then_else clearly remains the album to beat. (7/10)