Early years (1989–1994) Founded by brothers Hans and René Rutten and vocalist
Bart Smits, The Gathering formed in the city of
Oss in 1989. Soon after they were joined by
Hugo Prinsen Geerligs, Jelmer Wiersma and Frank Boeijen to complete their first line-up. The Gathering's earliest recordings were categorized as atmospheric
doom metal with influences from
death metal acts like
Celtic Frost and
Hellhammer. In 1990 they recorded a demo tape entitled
An Imaginary Symphony which met some positive reactions from the underground metal scene due to their unusual use of keyboards in metal-oriented music. A second demo, "Moonlight Archer" was recorded in April 1991, was picked up by several music journalists. Both demos suffered from poor production; however they did help establish the band's name on the live circuit opening for bands such as
Dead Head,
Invocator,
Samael,
Morbid Angel and
Death. After signing with Foundation 2000, the group released their debut album
Always... in 1992. On this album, Bart Smits was accompanied by Marike Groot on vocals, who also joined the Gathering on stage for most of the gigs. The album sold nearly 20,000 units over the next few years in Europe. In 1992 both Smits and Groot left the group due to musical differences; the other members wanted to change direction towards a lighter, more progressive sound. Smits went on to form his own project, Wish, to explore a darker, heavier sound. In 1993 the group recruited two new vocalists,
Niels Duffhues and female counterpart Martine van Loon. A second album,
Almost a Dance, was recorded and released in 1993 by Foundation 2000. The album was met with much criticism aimed at Duffhues' punk-ish tone being decidedly out of step with the music, and the album was largely written off as a result. The group collectively acknowledged their disappointments with the album and started writing new material and looked for a new vocalist.
Century Media years (1995–2001) In 1995, The Gathering released
Mandylion, their third album and first to feature lead vocalist
Anneke van Giersbergen, through
Century Media; proving to be their breakthrough and selling over 130,000 copies in Europe. Two singles were released from
Mandylion, "Adrenaline/Leaves" and "Strange Machines", the latter which reached number 37 on the Dutch singles charts and helped raise the group's popularity in Europe and the United States. Tours of Belgium and Germany, as well as appearances at the
Dynamo Open Air and
Pinkpop Festivals further established the bands presence in the European metal scene. 1997's
Nighttime Birds was stylistically and musically a companion piece to
Mandylion sold over 90,000 copies and saw the group tour throughout Europe. In 1998 the group acknowledged their growing influences and their need to experiment with a double album,
How to Measure a Planet?. Produced by Attie Bauw, the album is a radical departure from the group's established sound. Upon release, the album received excellent reviews from critics who appreciated the band's absorption of new styles such as
shoegaze and
trip hop into its sound. Positive reactions came from all over the world, including the United States, where they played 14 shows during the summer of 1999. In 1999 the band formed their own record label,
Psychonaut Records, with the view of releasing their own music and taking creative control over how their music is marketed and distributed.
Always... was re-released in 1999, followed by
Almost a Dance in 2000, both re-mastered and fitted with new artwork. However, the band were still under contract with
Century Media, they released a live album
Superheat (2000) which was recorded in several Dutch venues during 1999. Another successful chapter in The Gathering's career followed with the release of
If Then Else (2000). The album is filled with diverse, intense and emotional rock songs, more compact than its predecessor. Fifteen months of touring ensued, taking them to several countries of Europe, with a little sidestep to Mexico, and ending with a small Dutch club tour in October 2001. With these more atmospheric
trip hop albums, The Gathering earned increased popularity in South America.
Independent years (2002–2008) In 2002 the band members took a break and tended to their private lives. During this period, they ended their contract with
Century Media. The Gathering had to run their newborn label
Psychonaut Records and their 12½-year anniversary was coming up. To celebrate this with their fans, they released the mini-CD
Black Light District on their own label. In early 2003,
Souvenirs was released.
Sleepy Buildings, a semi-acoustic live album, followed in 2004. This album was the last one featuring Hugo Prinsen Geerligs as the bass player. He was later replaced by Marjolein Kooijman. In 2005, The Gathering provided the music for a CD-ROM titled "Passengers in Time: The Musical History Tour". This CD accompanied a history study book written by Professor Wim Kratsborn and the band did not consider it to be an official release of theirs. The band released a DVD in 2005, entitled
A Sound Relief. This contained more gentle semi-acoustic songs. But this is not their first DVD. Century Media had released
In Motion without band permission at 2001. Nevertheless
In Motion had an acceptable success. The next plan was to release in 2007 a second DVD (recognized for the band)
A Noise Severe which features the more
hard rock sound of The Gathering. This DVD was recorded in
Santiago, Chile at 24 March 2007 at the Caupolicán Theatre. In April 2006 they released their eighth studio album called
Home. They had toured in March in North and South America and, after a brief pause to let van Giersbergen treat a
laryngitis problem, they continued their touring schedule with European dates and music festivals throughout 2006. In May 2007, The Gathering joined
Lacuna Coil,
In This Moment and
Stolen Babies on "The Hottest Chicks in Metal" tour in the United States, sponsored by
Revolver. On 5 June 2007, it was announced that Anneke was leaving The Gathering to spend more time with her family and her new project,
Agua de Annique. Their final performance before Anneke's departure took place on 4 August 2007, at the
Ankkarock festival in
Finland.
Silje Wergeland era (2009–2025) , 2010In March 2009, The Gathering announced Norwegian singer
Silje Wergeland, of the band
Octavia Sperati, as their new lead vocalist. Their ninth album, and first with Wergeland, was titled
The West Pole and released in May 2009. On 16 May 2011, the band released the single "Heroes for Ghosts" via their
Bandcamp page, as well as announcing a South American tour. This was the lead single to their tenth studio album
Disclosure, released on 12 September 2012. In 2013, the band released
Afterwords, which features alternate versions of several songs from
Disclosure. Drummer Hans Rutten referred to it as more of an EP than a proper album. In January 2014, the band announced the departure of bassist Marjolein Kooijman after 10 years and an incoming hiatus at the end of the year. The Gathering celebrated their 25th birthday with two sold-out reunion concerts at Doornroosje in
Nijmegen on 9 November 2014. It was the first time that four of their singers (Bart Smits, Marike Groot, Anneke van Giersbergen and Silje Wergeland) performed together, and the band's first performance with van Giersbergen since her departure in 2007. The Gathering returned from their hiatus in June 2018, with their first announced show at the Midsummer Prog Festival in
Valkenburg. On 29 April 2022, the band released their eleventh studio album, and first in nearly 10 years,
Beautiful Distortion. It was preceded by the lead single "We Rise", released in February. In December 2024, the band announced that, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of
Mandylion, they would reunite with van Giersbergen for five sold-out August 2025 shows in
Nijmegen. The band then announced a full worldwide 2026
Mandylion tour with van Giersbergen. On 28 December 2025, vocalist Silje Wergeland announced her departure from the band after 16 years "to move on to new ventures." There was no indication if van Giersbergen's temporary return influenced her decision. ==Etymology==