Domingo 26 Feb 2012, 5:07

The Gathering - A Noise Severe

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This was the last album The Gathering released, before their singer Anneke van Giersbergen decided to leave the band in June 2007. It is a live recording that was released both as a DVD and as a double CD. It was recorded in Santiago, Chile on the 24th of March 2007. The album and DVD were meant as a kind of opposite side to the DVD A Sound Relief, which was released in 2005. In contrast to the semi-acoustic A Sound Relief, A Noise Severe has a much heavier sound. I bought the double CD in August of last year (2011) together with one of their other live albums: Superheat, to complete my collection of The Gathering albums.
The first disc starts with Shortest Day from the album Home, one of the songs I already liked when I first started listening to The Gathering. It is followed by In Between, also from Home and one of the most beautiful songs they have ever made. The album continues with two of the more heavier songs from the album How to Measure a Planet?: Liberty Bell and Probably Built in the Fifties. Both songs have this great, kind of spacey atmosphere and their heavy rock sound fits very well on this album. After Even the Spirits Are Afraid from the album Souvenirs they continue with an amazing version of Saturnine. It is clear that this great song from the album if_then_else is also one of the favourites of the audience in Santiago. The crowd is singing along with the band, creating a great atmosphere. It is followed by another great song: Monsters from the album Souvenirs. The album continues with two songs from Home, their latest album at that time: Alone and A Noise Severe, followed by some older songs: Leaves, Eléanor and In Motion, Part I, all from their first album Mandylion. These three heavier metal songs are very good for live performances and bring back the great atmosphere from the early years of The Gathering. The audience is really enthusiastic and Anneke is very sweet, thanking them and shouting: "We love Chile!". The second disc starts with the beautiful and sensitive Waking Hour from Home. It is followed by two all time favourites from their early years: On Most Surfaces from Nighttime Birds and Strange Machines from Mandylion. The latter really rocks, one of their best songs ever, in my opinion. The album continues with Adrenaline which was never on any studio album originally, but was released as a single together with Leaves. Third Chance is another great song, from the album Nighttime Birds, which really fits with the atmosphere of the evening. It is followed by the weakest part of the show: the 16:18 minutes during Black Light District. It is an instrumental track for the most part and a bit too long and boring in my opinion. Might be great to listen to at home, but not in this setting. They end the evening with the emotional Travel from How to Measure a Planet?, which is a great song for live performances and a great way to end the show.
Overall I think this is a very good live album and a great counterpart for the softer A Sound Relief. The songs are chosen very well for the most part, a good variation of songs from their latest album Home combined with all-time favourites like Saturnine and Strange Machines. The sound is loud and heavy, with great drums, heavy guitars and deep bass sounds. Anneke's voice is amazing and very powerful especially in all songs of the Mandylion/Nighttime Birds era. The audience is amazingly enthusiastic and really enjoying the show. It is incredible how popular the band has become in South American countries, in contrast to their limited popularity in their home country. Their South American tours must have been very rewarding, not only because of the amount of people visiting their shows, but also because of the great enthusiasm and expression which is hard to find in a country like the Netherlands. Also Anneke's response to the audience, her "Thank You!"s and "Gracias!"s are really great and showing her own enthusiasm and her appreciation for all the fans who came to see them. This great double disc is packaged in a cardboard digipack box with some pictures on it taken during the concert. A booklet is not included, but this is also not really needed for a live album. It is a great way for The Gathering to end an amazing era with Anneke as their singer. I am glad the band moved on and found a great new singer in Silje Wergeland. Though I would have liked to have the opportunity seeing and hearing them live, sounding like they do on this album.

Best tracks: Shortest Day, In Between, Liberty Bell, Probably Built in the Fifties, Saturnine, Monsters, Alone, A Noise Severe, Leaves, Eléanor, In Motion, Part I, Waking Hour, On Most Surfaces, Strange Machines, Adrenaline, Third Chance, Travel (Okay, almost all of them…)