''Almost a Dance'' is the second studio album by the Dutch

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band The Gathering, released in 1993 on Foundation 2000 Records. Tom Holkenberg, one of the producers, later became better known as the

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

ian

Junkie XL Tom Holkenborg (born 8 December 1967), also known by his stage name Junkie XL or occasionally JXL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer. Originally known for his trance productions, he has moved to producing e ...

. On this album, The Gathering left

death growl A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their ...

s and their

death-doom Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gained ...

influences aside, in favor of a more straightforward

sound with clean vocals.

Track listing

Credits adapted from the original release.

Personnel

;The Gathering *

Niels Duffhuës Niels Duffhuës (born 8 January 1973 in Oss) is a Dutch multi-instrumentalist, composer and writer. From 1993 to 1994 he was the vocalist and acoustic guitarist in the then Doom metal band The Gathering, and he played on their album '' Almos ...

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar, arrangements on track 5 * Martine van Loon – female vocals (tracks 1, 4, 6, and 9) *

René Rutten René Rutten (born 2 July 1972 in Nijmegen, Gelderland) is a Dutch guitarist for The Gathering. He founded the band with his brother Hans in 1989, and together they released eleven studio albums, four live albums, and four EPs. His latest ...

– guitars,

theremin The theremin (; originally known as the ætherphone/etherphone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox) is an electronic musical instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer (who is known as a thereminist). It is named afte ...

digeridoo The didgeridoo (; also spelt didjeridu, among other variants) is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgeridoo was developed by ...

* Jelmer Wiersma – guitars *

Frank Boeijen Franciscus Johannes Maria (Frank) Boeijen (born 27 November 1957 in Nijmegen) is a Dutch singer and guitarist. His best known songs are ''Kronenburg Park (Ga die Wereld Uit)'' about a prostitute, ''Zwart Wit'' about the racial murder of Kerwin ...

– keyboards * Hugo Prinsen Geerligs – bass guitar, flute,

triangle A triangle is a polygon with three Edge (geometry), edges and three Vertex (geometry), vertices. It is one of the basic shapes in geometry. A triangle with vertices ''A'', ''B'', and ''C'' is denoted \triangle ABC. In Euclidean geometry, an ...

Hans Rutten The Gathering is a Dutch rock band, founded in 1989 by brothers Hans and René Rutten and vocalist Bart Smits in Oss, North Brabant. The Gathering earliest releases were categorized as atmospheric doom metal with influences from extreme m ...

– drums, arrangements ;Production *

Tom Holkenborg Tom Holkenborg (born 8 December 1967), also known by his stage name Junkie XL or occasionally JXL, is a Dutch composer, multi-instrumentalist, DJ, producer, and engineer. Originally known for his trance productions, he has moved to producing ...

– producer, engineer, mixing *Mark Fritsma – executive producer

References

The Gathering (band) albums 1993 albums {{1990s-metal-album-stub