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The Gathering - Nighttime Birds



8.6 | 428 votes |
Release date: 15 May 1997
Style: Atmospheric gothic metal

Owners:

508 have it
38 want it


Disc I
01. On Most Surfaces (Inuït)
02. Confusion
03. The May Song
04. The Earth Is My Witness
05. New Moon, Different Day
06. Third Chance
07. Kevin's Telescope
08. Nighttime Birds
09. Shrink
10. The May Song [radio edit] [2007 Re-release bonus]
11. The Earth Is My Witness [edit] [2007 Re-release bonus]
12. Confusion [Live in Krakow] [2007 Re-release bonus]
13. The May Song [Live in Krakow] [2007 Re-release bonus]
14. New Moon, Different Day [Live in Krakow] [2007 Re-release bonus]
15. Adrenaline [Live in Krakow] [2007 Re-release bonus]

Disc II [2007 Re-release]
01. New Moon, Different Day
02. Kevin's Telescope [instrumental version]
03. Shrink
04. The Earth Is My Witness
05. Diamond Box [instrumental version]
06. Nighttime Birds
07. On Most Surfaces
08. Hjelmar's [instrumental version]
09. In Power We Trust The Love Advocated [Dead Can Dance cover]
10. When The Sun Hits [Slowdive cover]
11. Confusion [Demo]
12. Shrink [alternative version]
13. Adrenaline
14. Third Chance [alternative version]

Top 20 albums of 1997: 7

Additional info
Deluxe re-release version (2007):

Disc 1

Tracks 1-9 taken from "Nighttime Birds" album
Tracks 10 and 11 taken from "The May Song" EP
Tracks 12-15 taken from "In Motion" DVD

Disc 2:
Tracks 1-8: Eroc demo session for "Nighttime Birds", November 1996
Tracks 9-11 taken from the "Kevin's Telescope" EP
Track 12 taken from "Liberty Bell" CD-Single
Tracks 13 and 14 taken from "Adrenaline/Leaves" EP

Credits CD1:

Tracks 1-11
Recorded February 17th - March 15th 1997 at Woodhouse Studios, Hagen, Germany.
Mixed March 24th - March 29th 1997.
Produced by Siggi Bemm and The Gathering. Engineered by Siggi Bemm and Matthias Klinkmann.

Tracks 12-15 recorded live in Krakow, Poland 1997.

Credits CD2:

Tracks 1-8 recorded at Woodhouse Studios, Hagen, Germany.
Mixed by ERC at Woodhouse, November 25th to 30th 1996.

Tracks 9 and 10 recorded at S&K Studios, Doetinchem, The Netherlands, September 1st to 4th 1997.
Produced by The Gathering and Dirk Kemper.

Track 11 taken from "Nighttime Birds", remixed by EROC.

Track 12 recorded at Patrick Steenbakkers audioprodukties, Schijndel, The Netherlands, summer 1996.
Produced by Patrick Steenbakkers and The Gathering.

Tracks 13 and 14 recorded at RS 29 Studio, Wolluk, The Netherlands, March 30th to April 3rd 1996.
Produced, engineered and mixed by Oscar Holleman and The Gathering.

Cover photo taken by Karel Tomeï, Flying Camera.

Guest review by
Ernis
Rating:
9.5
"Nighttime Birds" is another beautiful chapter in the story of The Gathering. After the slight downfall with the "Almost A Dance" period the band found themselves again and discovered the beautiful voice of Anneke Van Giersbergen to carry on the sounds of the group's creation. After "Mandylion" which was still similar to the doom style of "Always", Nighttime Birds, their second album to feature Anneke as lead vocalist is a step closer to atmospheric Gothic metal.

Read more ››
published 21.02.2008 | Comments (3)

Found in 14 lists
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Comments

Comments: 9   Visited by: 640 users
26.05.2013 - 17:59
Rating: 7
Erik M.

Extremely overrated album. Musically it's great, but the lyrics are laughably bad and really bring this album down for me. Mandylion and Always... are better than this for sure.
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08.07.2013 - 17:21
Rating: 7
Kuroboshi

I don't really like Anneke's effort on this one. And, I guess this means blasphemy for some, I prefer the new vocalist. ^^
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18.05.2014 - 19:29
Rating: 9
NocturnalStalker
Metal Addict
My favourite album. While Mandylion was more diverse and experimental Nighttime Birds sounds more consistent. Anyway both albums are classics to me.
Also... Should I mention once again how much I love Anneke's voice?
----
"And we are not who we think we are
We are who we're afraid to be"
- Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"
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07.10.2014 - 07:39
SongsOfDarkness
Account deleted
Written by NocturnalStalker on 18.05.2014 at 19:29

My favourite album. While Mandylion was more diverse and experimental Nighttime Birds sounds more consistent. Anyway both albums are classics to me.
Also... Should I mention once again how much I love Anneke's voice?

She's a good singer, but some see it as a real goddess here, and it's annoying.
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30.06.2015 - 01:14
Rating: 8
musicalkaratekid

If anything this album is proof of how The Gathering continued their progression into more experimental AND accessible music territory, at least that's how I see it. Whilst for me this album sometimes lacks that powerful punch that Mandylion had in spades (honestly, I don't mean this to sound like a negative thing), it so makes up for it with three of my favourite 90s-era Gathering tracks, being "Kevin's Telescope", "The Earth is my Witness" and the lovely title track. Those tracks are simply excellent and there's nothing else to say.
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30.06.2015 - 01:46
Rating: 8
musclassia

Written by musicalkaratekid on 30.06.2015 at 01:14

If anything this album is proof of how The Gathering continued their progression into more experimental AND accessible music territory, at least that's how I see it. Whilst for me this album sometimes lacks that powerful punch that Mandylion had in spades (honestly, I don't mean this to sound like a negative thing), it so makes up for it with three of my favourite 90s-era Gathering tracks, being "Kevin's Telescope", "The Earth is my Witness" and the lovely title track. Those tracks are simply excellent and there's nothing else to say.


Solid summary, and I think those who write off Nighttime Birds as a retread of Mandylion are deliberately ignorant, as the two albums have clearly distinct sounds. Not sure which I prefer, as I'm not fully acquainted with either, but both act as a nice demonstration of the ability of the band at the time to release heavy yet dainty music without clear compromise on either front - both are fine efforts in their own rights. The tracks you list are among (but not an exhaustive list of) the best the album offers
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23.08.2015 - 21:44
Rating: 8
Reaper_Redeemer

Their best album for me and the only one I like. There were some excellent tracks in there like "On Most Surfaces", "Confusion", "The Earth Is My Witness" and "Nighttime Birds".
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06.07.2021 - 11:17
Rating: 8
Redel

This is a really nice album, it is my 2nd fav by the band, Mandylion is first.
On most surfaces is the highlight. The May song, Third chance and the title track are also great.
Basically all songs are enjoyable -- and the album is not too long, as opposed to the successor.
They have 1-2 more good albums with Anneke following. After she left they went downhill.
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21.04.2023 - 23:48
Rating: 8
SebaRaven36

I haven't listened to this wonderful album for a long time, the melody and the composition is the best
it is ideal for those cloudy and cold days and listening to "nighttime birds" is phenomenal.
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