Review by Adam M on November 22, 2025.

This was a fantastic album that brought the band into a different dimension with an extended scope and more epic structures to their songs. It is very long and one of the more ambitious of their albums. The long length of two discs allows the band to experiment and come up with tracks that are interesting and compelling to listen to.

The musicianship on the work is very excellent with strong use of guitars in an atmospheric manner and a great singing performance by Anneke Van Giersbergen. It all comes together with great production to craft an exciting and immersive sound. Fans of the bands later material in particular will like it.

In terms of flaws, there is not as much of a modern sound as on recent album and the work is lacking in the charisma of earlier efforts. Still, this is a thoughtful and interesting work that is one of the premier female-fronted metal albums around. It is epic in scope and manages to make its own niche rather well. 

In conclusion, the album is a venerable force of progressive atmospheric metal and one of the best female oriented albums to be found. Fans of bands like Within Temptation will like it, but also fans of atmospheric acts like Anathema and Katatonia. All in all, this is one of the best albums of the style and highly worth a listen.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10

Review by Adam on March 20, 2001.

And with this album they offer you even more for you money. This is a two-cd set collection of 14 tracks for enjoyable atmospheric melodic type rock and roll to soothe even the most angry and evil metal fan. Anneke van Giersbergen's voice is as powerful than ever, and she graces each song she is in with a moody yet sensational presence. The album's music is still no match for that which was included on The Gathering's previous cd Nighttime Birds, but is still as soothing and ,at times, hard as ever. So do yourself a favor and have yourself wisked away into the delightful world of The Gathering

Bottom Line: If you like music and you are an adventurous metal listener, then buy this album with an open mind and enjoy!

Rating: 8 out of 10