Anneke Van Giersbergen has kept herself busy in the years following her departure from The Gathering, and her latest project finds her delving into folk-influenced symphonic metal. Gone are the experimentations of her later years with the Gathering, and this is European metal by the numbers.
The good news is that the songs are very good, and her voice is as emotive as ever. The arrangements are grandiose. The band also has a secret weapon: killer guitarist Merel Bechtold, who anchors the whole thing with her decidedly metal attack.
A very good night of grandiose music played in an intimate setting.
