Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Gathering's classic album, 25 Jun 2007
Most fans of this amazing Dutch band will agree that Mandylion is their most brilliant and classic album. It is sort of a transition between their first 2 albums ("Always" and "Almost a Dance"), both of which were heavy, doom metal albums with growled male vocals, and their newer, accessible yet eccentric trip rock. It is definately quite a heavy album, with heavy, throbbing bass lines and several dramatic riffs ("Eleanor" and the beginning section of "Sand and Mercury" stand out), however the introduction of Anneke's fabulously powerful, intensely beautiful and now rather iconic vocals has changed their style somewhat.
I would be inclined to agree with people who say that these days, the Gathering's music is somewhat defined by Anneke's stunning voice (a huge, huge pity, since she is now leaving the band), however Mandylion fully displays the musical talents of all the band members, with very very well written guitar and keyboard melodies in all the songs as well as a very unique style. The beautiful female vocals and melodic keyboards perfectly complement the heavy riffs and intense bass and drumming. Some songs such as "Eleanor" are really quite epic in scope and sound, and there is an impressive, eastern influenced instumental track ("Mandylion"). The album also features one of their most iconic and memorable songs "Strange Machines" which remains a staple of their live set.
This "enhanced" edition also includes a bonus CD with demo versions of many of the songs from this album plus "Solar Glider"- an instrumental track and "Third Chance"- another song which is not included on the original album. These bonus tracks are worth hearing for fans of the band. It also features some interesting liner notes from the band, explaining the inspiration behind the songs and how they were written as well as a few anecdotes from the recording. It also comes in rather nice, shiny packaging. What more could you want?
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Class, 5 Jan 2006
It has taken me a while to get round to The Gathering,with Nightwish,Within-Tempatation,Midnattsol and Epica taking up my time and my mp3 player,this is a brillant cd,amazing sound,brillant vocals,great guitar riffs and solos,I wish I got into them much earlier, this cd is 10 years old but is still fresh and modern,there is a bonus cd with demos of some of the songs and cd notes,The Gathering is just pure class!
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good, 22 Dec 2005
Well... many people know the amazing and historical Mandylion from 1995, with the incredible irruption of Anneke Van Giersbergen female voice with an elegant and emotional Metal music. this edition reminds that moment and besides that, we have another cd with demos as a gift. Every single demo is great, the purity of sound gives more depth and emotion to the metal music with the perfect Anneke voice. The versions of In Motion part 1 & 2, 'Eleanor', 'Mandylion' and 'Fear the sea' are excellent, with many purity and they're a bit different than in definitive album.. I recommend to listen to 'Third Chance', many people will be surprised with it.. ;) . The only new song, 'Solar Glider' is a light, smooth but rhythmic instrumental song with some touch of metal. it's good...
I really recommend this aniversary edition..
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