The Gathering - How To Measure A Planet?

My Fav album... EVER!

Masterpiece, Travel best song ever!

This album is kinda funny for me... I started out rating it as a six and though it was my least favorite The Gathering album. I Suppose I hadn't listened enough to it as during the last few months I have gradually improved the rating which is now a 10 for me. It's just a masterpiece! Heavy yet soothing and melodic. There are just some parts of this album I just can sit and listen to over and over again, like the second part of "Probably Build In The Fifties" or the title track's awesome riff, not to mention "Travel", one of the greatest masterpieces I've ever heard. The Gathering is successfully experimenting and creating a unnameable genre. It's the perfect middle station in between the heavier sound of Nighttime Birds and Mandylion and their later softer style.

"All I want is to be where you are..."

Never have I been so enchanted by an album of 'How to measure a Planet?'s grandiose quality. It is, truly and honestly for me, a flawless piece of work. I remember being shocked when the only album I had heard by the band was the Gothic Metal/Death-Doom Debut 'Always...', and then listening to this out of sheer curiosity-But that's exactly why it has to be listened to more than once to get to grips with its overall sound. At a monstrously large 103 minutes you could say that it is too long, but this isn't too long at all-It's long enough, yet it feels like a lifetime-But this lifetime is one that can be fully enjoyed. The title track and 'Travel' alone are worthy buying.

Beautiful album...

Good album with a few great songs, but nowhere near as good as the previous two albums. And the last track is a complete waste of space IMO. It seems that a top notch producer would have cut the chaff and reduced it to a very solid single disc.

It's truly sad that TG will never go back to their mandylion/nighttime birds sound.

A lot of this album reminds me of Ambeon's Fate Of A Dreamer.

Is that a seismograph on the cover? That would go well with the name of the album, though I can't find anything online, except it should be from Carsten Drescher.

Written by M C Vice on 22.04.2015 at 11:22

A lot of this album reminds me of Ambeon's Fate Of A Dreamer.

without the Gathering, a band like Ambeon wouldn't have existed

Written by [user id=17278] on 17.04.2016 at 11:10

Written by M C Vice on 22.04.2015 at 11:22

A lot of this album reminds me of Ambeon's Fate Of A Dreamer.

without the Gathering, a band like Ambeon would have existed

I assume you mean wouldn't have existed?

Written by M C Vice on 17.04.2016 at 12:43

Written by [user id=17278] on 17.04.2016 at 11:10

Written by M C Vice on 22.04.2015 at 11:22

A lot of this album reminds me of Ambeon's Fate Of A Dreamer.

without the Gathering, a band like Ambeon would have existed

I assume you mean wouldn't have existed?

yes, sorry about that, I'll edit my post.

Yeah well, if this album is one thing for sure, that is absolutely too long for its own good.
And that is just too unfortunate I think because there are several excellent songs to find here: Probably built in the fifties, Red is a slow color, Rescue me, My electricity, Marooned all stand out for me here. Then there are a handful of decent songs like Travel, Illuminating, Locked away.
Had they made an album out of these songs alone it would be a solid 9 for me and rivaling Mandylion for best Gathering album.
Well, as it is the album is my 3rd fav. by the band, Nighttime birds slightly preferred (mostly because it is shorter).