Almost ten years since “Afterwords” (2013), The Gathering is working on a new album. This has been confirmed by drummer Hans Rutten, on a recent interview (Underground’s Voice).
Has Rutten said: “We have quite a lot of material. And we decided to work with Attie Bauw — he’s the producer of the new album. And he also worked on ‘Home’ [2006] and ‘How To Measure A Planet?’ [1998]. We know Attie quite well — he’s a friend of ours. With this material, we really [thought] that it would be good to have a producer, to not do everything on our own, but this time to use the magic of Attie. We recorded almost everything. We still have to record vocals and some things, so we’re not finished yet. But what can I say about it? It’s a big trip. It’s a big adventure”.
Asked about the musical direction of the new The Gathering album, Hans said: “It’s difficult for me to get a hold on how it sounds, to put it in words, really. You can hear that Attie is working with us; that’s for sure. And, yeah, I’m very enthusiastic about it, but every musician is always enthusiastic about his new album. I find it quite difficult to say something about it. I think people have to listen to it. So we hope to finish it soon, and then we can show the world, in fact, how it sounds”.
Will the new album be released in 2021? Hans answered: “The virus is going on — everybody knows — but we really want to release it this year. So we are aiming after the summer, but it depends on recordings. We want to record with Silje [Wergeland, The Gathering’s Norwegian singer], of course. It’s difficult to travel right now. It’s the idea that she’s coming to Holland to record vocals, but it’s difficult because of the virus. So we’re looking for maybe other possibilities. But the main thing is we really want to have a new album this year”.
