Cost: $2.00
Even though it's been 20+ years, this actually picks up right where I left off with The Gathering, since I bought Mandylion from a Media Play sale bin in the '90s not too long after it was released (and since then, the only The Gathering I've ever seen in a bargain bin is the remix version of Always...). I'm aware their later material took a very non-metal trajectory, but I haven't heard any of it yet and have no great desire to.
This is far more stripped down and lightened up music than Mandylion. I never got on the Anneke bandwagon and didn't go nuts for Mandylion, but the album has its positive points and is certainly atmospheric if nothing else. Nighttime Birds is far less metallic and doomy. I don't place much value on the more relaxed sound and rockish elements here, so there's really not anything here for me that the preceding album doesn't do better. All that said, I did find the second half of the CD to be marginally more interesting overall. Again, I haven't heard any of the material that came after this, but their shift from metal to rock doesn't seem particularly surprising based on a lot of the music here.
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