Review by Ben for Gathering, The - Nighttime Birds (1997)
It took me a while to find my way to the gothic metal genre, having first formed an obsession with death doom in the early nineties. If you ignore the gothic aspect of My Dying Bride, it was probably Moonspell and Tiamat that gave me my first real taste, along with Type O Negative's October Rust. It wasn't until late in 1998, when I returned home from a trip to Utopia Records in Sydney with The Gathering's How to Measure a Planet and Theatre of Tragedy's Aegis, that the ingredient that really draws me to the genre was revealed to me... female vocals. Musicianship is rarely the main focus in gothic metal, with atmosphere and song-writing being brought right to the fore. The angelic beauty of Anneke van Giersbergen and Liv Kristine's performances on these two albums completely destroyed me, and formed an infatuation that has continued up to the present, when Heike Langhans (Draconian) and Aleah (Trees of Eternity) blissfully torture my soul. That first The Gathering experience led me to the band's most prized releases, and while many fans appear to prefer 1995's Mandylion, it's Nighttime Birds that became (and remains) my personal favourite.
It often feels like this album was designed to showcase just how talented Anneke is. The softer moments allow her emotion and tenderness to shine, while the heavier sections are really just vehicles for her to soar to places most vocalists could only ever dream of. The lyrics are simplistic and at times almost child-like, but they're given huge gravitas and power through her delivery. The music does everything it needs to do, while occasionally introducing creative techniques and instrumentation that aren't often heard in metal. A few of these more experimental moments aren't all the successful for me, particularly the toe-tapping chorus section of Third Chance, which ruins any chance that Nighttime Birds had of receiving 5 stars from me. In the end though, I'm really glad that the October Review Draft allowed me to use my first pick and finally give this a review and rating.
4.5 stars