The history of The Gathering is long and varied. Beginning as a Dutch death metal band, this was changed dramatically by the replacement of their various vocalists with Anneke van Giersbergen in 1994. Since then, their catalog has drastically moved away from anything remotely death metal and has settled into an atmospheric, doomy rock sound, if there is any way to truly pinpoint it.
At this point in their career, after having broken away and starting their own record label, which a live/acoustic type set apparently seemed to be the natural progression to add to their catalog. Thus, Sleepy Buildings was recorded at a gig or two in their homeland, a semi-acoustic set featuring reworking of some of their very oldest songs as well as the rest of their catalog.
Given the recent trends in the band’s music, nothing in this mellow set comes off as a surprise. Even the reworking of pre-Anneke songs “Stonegarden” and “Like Fountains” don’t stand out as any different than their current works. It’s all been streamlined into the “sound” of The Gathering that, while it continues to grow and innovate itself, doesn’t offer anything out of the ordinary. Yes, even the death tracks are indiscernible from their recent material. This is a bit disconcerting, even though they sound just as fantastic as everything else.
For that is The Gathering’s forte. Everything just sounds so pretty, it’s hard to find fault with it. All of the familiar songs of past albums (with the majority pulled from How To Measure A Planet? and nothing pulled from their last album, Souvenirs) are performed in a laid-back style that seems more to be at home with theatrical audiences than your typical concert crowd. One could go as far as to say this could’ve been an entirely piano-and-vocal show with nearly the same effect. While this may come as complete horror to the aspect of The Gathering’s fan base which has been continually hoping they would return to a harder edge, it moves them into a nearly elitist class of high-brow performers suited for a powerfully moving film soundtrack.
All prowess and aesthetics aside: sitting through the entire album is a challenge. Yes, the vocals are gorgeous and the music is undeniably wonderfully performed. But my goodness, even traditionally low-key performers like Tori Amos will mix it up once in a while. Not only is this album perpetually slow, their song selections leave little chance to work a little caffeinated energy into the mix. Even the title track, which is a new creation for the album, pushes absolutely no BPM boundaries. Not surprisingly, the most energy is shown in “The Mirror Water,” a track from Almost A Dance, and “Stonegarden” from Always…, both from their heavier past. They may be neutered versions, yes, but a small injection of life where one is desperately needed.
The main issue with this album is its complete lack of replay factor. It’s really nice to hear the first time through, and it’s great to listen closely and pick out bits that were missed on the second pass. But beyond that, it’s just the same songs played in a similar manner as their electric predecessors, but far more subdued. It’s this lack of color that allows even the interesting covers of their death tunes to fall to the wayside. Every song is somewhat acoustic, and every song starts to blend into the next.
There’s definitely a mood conveyed with this album; unfortunately, that allows for few standouts. “Travel” is nine minutes of fantastic performance, but it was nine minutes of fantastic performance in its original state on How To Measure A Planet? as well. Perhaps these prior works simply couldn’t be improved upon. If only more bands had that problem. Either way, it doesn’t warrant fans running out to buy this disc to hear something new. The phrase, “just imagine it with acoustic guitars instead” pretty much says it all.
