It's been an absolute pleasure participating - thank you for having me and for being such a gracious host
(...)
As for The Gathering: at the very least, you should check out their first two albums with Anneke, Mandylion and Nighttime Birds. In fact, there were a couple of tunes in the running for the EP from Mandylion. That album was such a revelation when it came out - Anneke's amazing performance on it was certainly a big component, but the whole thing is, to this day, so unique.
Anyway - thanks again, this was a ton of fun!
And finally, The Gathering. Not the only stuff of theirs I’ve been sent in a roulette, or indeed even in this round. I’ve always liked Anneke as a singer, but my previous experience with The Gathering has not been that exciting. I don’t know that this is vastly different, but the main themes in the song - especially the chorus - are really engaging. I guess I should explore them a bit further this time.
Incidentally, as I was looking back at the write-up: If I remember correctly from your RYM, the only thing you've heard from The Gathering (on your own, I mean) is How to Measure a Planet, right? That one, when it came out, was quite a departure for the band. A double album with much mellower, trippier songs (not to mention the super-long title-track, with a bunch of clearly improvised parts). While I like it a fair bit, I wouldn't say it's my go-to for the band...at least not on a frequent basis. If_Then_Else was the album that followed (Saturnine is on it) and that was a bit of a walk-back from the band - at the time, it felt like they came out with a relatively harder-hitting record even though it wasn't fully in their hearts (although, again, Saturnine is probably one of their best tunes).
Then...well, they truly started doing what they wanted
I believe they started releasing albums on their own label - both Souvenirs and Home (the last two records with Anneke) continue on that more mellow vein, and they are very, very good.
But, as I said above, you should really give Mandylion a try, as it might surprise you (given your experience with the band so far). At the time, it was lumped with other "gothic metal" bands, but even then their sound was different.