Dutch gothic doom pioneers THE GATHERING have released Echoes Of Mandylion, a live album marking the 30th anniversary of their landmark 1995 record Mandylion. It is out now digitally, exclusively through Bandcamp.
The recording was captured over five nights at Doornroosje in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, from August 27 to 31, 2025. Those shows were the first in eleven years to feature the classic Mandylion lineup, with vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen back alongside guitarist René Rutten and the rest of the band.
The set reproduces Mandylion in its entirety, from the title track and "Eleanor" through "Strange Machines" and "In Motion II", and rounds it out with other favorites from the era, including "Leaves", "Travel" and "Saturnine". The result is a 16-track document of the reunion that grew from a couple of planned anniversary gigs into a full year on the road.
Speaking to Metal Hammer Greece's TV War, van Giersbergen admitted the band never expected Mandylion to still resonate three decades on. She said the reunion grew out of casual coffees with Rutten rather than any business plan: the album had finally been certified gold, and the two agreed it was the moment to "do something special" — first one show, then two, then a whole anniversary year. As for new music, she said they had deliberately not discussed it, preferring to keep the anniversary "special".
The reunion run is due to wrap up with a final show in Amsterdam in January 2027, as we reported in June.
Tracklist:
- Mandylion
- Eleanor
- Fear The Sea
- In Motion I
- On Most Surfaces (Inuit)
- Broken Glass
- Waking Hour
- Great Ocean Road
- Probably Built In The Fifties
- Analog Park
- In Motion II
- Leaves
- Sand And Mercury
- Strange Machines
- Travel
- Saturnine
Order & Stream "Echoes Of Mandylion": Bandcamp
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