Gothic Metal
In keeping with this blog’s Rocktober theme, I’ve chosen a song that’s gonna blow you away. Prepare your ears for “Liberty Bell” by The Gathering, a gothic metal band from Holland that have been together since about 1990. “Liberty Bell” is a track from How to Measure a Planet?, their fifth major release. It’s a very powerful song laden with some heavy guitars that will really make you want to crank up the volume to get the full experience. The percussion keeps a fierce rhythm pulsing throughout the song that will definitely get your head nodding and/or your foot tapping. The lead singer, Anneke Van Giersbergen, has a very beautiful voice that complements the power of the raging instruments. Once you start listening to this song then I predict there will be some fierce air instrumentation going on, so make sure your air guitar is plugged in or your air drum set is ready for a heavy beating.
Purchase How to Measure a Planet? by The Gathering
Another gothic metal band that’s often compared to The Gathering, and has played with them live on stage, is an Italian band called Lacuna Coil. They’re a relatively new band that released their debut album, In a Reverie, in 1999. The song that really got me interested in them, “To Myself I Turned”, comes from that album. It’s a relatively mid-tempo number that has a very orchestral feel to it. I suppose the symphonic strings (probably produced electronically) that back up the band is the main reason for that. The band’s lead vocalist, Cristina Scabbia, also has a voice that borders on being operatic, which adds a lot of strength to the music. In my opinion, Lacuna Coil is what Evanescence could be but can’t quite obtain. However, that may be unfair seeing as Evanescence seems to be more influenced by the Linkin Park school of music whereas Lacuna Coil is more influenced by European heavy metal trends, so their musical goals aren’t exactly the same. And let me add as a saving grace for myself that I do like Evanescence; I just like Lacuna Coil more.
Liberty Bell was the first song I ever heard by The Gathering, and it is still my favorite. I subsequently purchased all of their releases from ‘Mandylion’ to ‘Sleepy Buildings’. What a beautiful voice, and what a powerful band!
Lacuna Coil tend to stay in a narrower range of dynamics and tempo, but there are at least 3 or 4 great songs on each of their albums. (I own all 4) Their cover of ‘Stars’ by Dubstar is intense!.
thank you for posting.
I’ve always preferred Comalies over In a Reverie just because I think the material on the former is stronger than the latter. That’s the only real preference I have for Lacuna Coil.
When it comes to The Gathering, I’m not really as knowledgeable about their material as I want to be. All I know is that when I get my next paycheck I’m going to buy some of their music.