The Gentle Storm is a Dutch musical project by singer and lyricist

Anneke van Giersbergen Anna Maria "Anneke" van Giersbergen (born 8 March 1973) is a Dutch singer, songwriter and guitarist who became known worldwide as the lead singer for the rock band The Gathering between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project wa ...

and composer and musician

Arjen Anthony Lucassen Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/ rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as t ...

, founder and leader of other musical projects such as

Star One Star One was an Indian pay television network based in Mumbai. It was launched on 1 November 2004 and was it owned by Star TV and distributed worldwide by Fox International Channels. In November 2006, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky. ...

Ayreon Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, elect ...

Guilt Machine Guilt Machine is a musical project by Dutch musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, owner of other musical projects such as Star One, Ayreon and Ambeon. The project's debut release, '' On This Perfect Day'', was released in August 2009. Biography ...

and

Ambeon Arjen Anthony Lucassen (born 3 April 1960) is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as the ...

. The duo has previously collaborated in Ayreon albums ''

Into the Electric Castle ''Into the Electric Castle – A Space Opera'' is the third album of the progressive metal project Ayreon by Dutch songwriter, producer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Released in 1998, it was the band's first double a ...

'' and ''

01011001 ''01011001'' is the seventh studio album by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's long-running Ayreon project. "01011001" is the binary representation of the ASCII value of the letter '' Y''. ''01011001'' is a concept album that tells the story of aliens ...

''. The project's debut album, ''The Diary'', was released on March 23, 2015 in Europe, and the following day in the US.

History

Formation and ''The Diary'' (2014–2016)

The project was unveiled on 22 April 2014 and was described by Lucassen as "an epic double concept album, a combination of 'classical meets metal' and 'acoustic folk'." Lucassen's most recurrent collaborator Ed Warby will be featured once again on drums, and it will be his very first album featuring a

double bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar i ...

among the instruments. He confirmed that Johan van Stratum from his former band

Stream of Passion Stream of Passion is a Dutch progressive metal band with symphonic and gothic influences founded by guitarist and composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen and Mexican singer, violinist, and lyricist Marcela Bovio. They have released four studio albums. ...

would play bass on the album. Also, due to "unforeseen problems", Warby had to re-record all his drum parts in one day only. Other former collaborators will be back, such as Joost van den Broek (piano), Ben Mathot (

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

) and Maaike Peterse (cello), along with two new guest instrumentalists: Hinse Mutter (double bass) and Jenneke de Jonge (French horn). On September 2, 2014, Lucassen revealed that his collaboration with van Giersbergen was actually a new band, called The Gentle Storm. He stated that van Giersbergen would perform live with band next year, possibly ruling himself out of live shows. On October 10, it was announced at The Gentle Storm's official Facebook profile that the album would be composed of two CDs with the same songs, but recorded in totally different arrangements. CD 1 will be "the 'Gentle' album, ..all acoustic and folky with lots of exotic instruments", while CD2 will be "the 'Storm' album, ..an all-out, bombastic orchestral metal album". The post also stated that there would be "plenty of progressive elements mixed in". The post invited fans to ask questions, and some of the answers revealed that the album is set for a March 2015 release, that the band will probably continue if the public reception is good enough and that the concept will be "a historic love-story". On 4 November, the album was revealed to be titled ''The Diary'', with a cover art by Alexandra V. Bach, who also drew the art of '' A War of Our Own'' by

, another band started by Arjen, but that continued after he left it. On January 20, 2015, the project released two lyric videos for both versions of the song "Endless Sea". The Gentle Storm did a small-scale tour in April 2016, after which Lucassen and Van Giersbergen focused on other projects, including together in the ''Ayreon Universe'' series of concerts. Van Giersbergen subsequently created the band

VUUR VUUR ("fire", "passion" or "drive") is a Dutch progressive metal band formed in 2016 by singer and lyricist Anneke van Giersbergen and musicians she has worked with previously in bands like The Gentle Storm or her own solo band. The band is in ...

, mostly with live members of The Gentle Storm.

Personnel

(ex- The Gathering) - lead vocals *

(

, ex-

) -

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s, keyboards, percussion, hammered dulcimer ;Additional musicians *

Ed Warby Edward R. Warby (born 7 March 1968) is a Dutch musician, best known as the drummer for death metal band Gorefest and progressive rock/metal project Ayreon. He also appeared in the band Agressor in 1982 and joined the Eindhoven-based metal band ...

(

Gorefest Gorefest was a Dutch death metal band from Goes in Zeeland. It was founded in 1989 by Jan-Chris de Koeijer, Frank Harthoorn, Alex van Schaik and Marc Hoogendoorn. History Within two months of existence Gorefest recorded their first demo. A ...

) - drums * Rob Snijders ( Agua de Annique) -

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

* Johan van Stratum (

) - bass * Joost van den Broek (Star One,

After Forever After Forever was a Dutch symphonic metal band with strong progressive metal influences. The band relied on the use of both soprano vocals and death growls. In February 2009, it was announced that After Forever had disbanded. Singer Floor Jans ...

) - piano * Timo Somers (

Delain Delain is a Dutch symphonic metal band formed in 2002 by former Within Temptation keyboardist Martijn Westerholt, intending for the band to be solely a project. Singer Charlotte Wessels was invited to join in 2005. The name of the band comes fr ...

, Vengeance) - guitar solo on "Heart of Amsterdam" * Ben Mathot -

* Hinse Mutter -

* Maaike Peterse -

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

* Jenneke de Jonge -

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

* Jeroen Goossens - wind instruments * Jack Pisters -

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...

and coral * Micheal Mills -

Irish bouzouki The Irish bouzouki () is an adaptation of the Greek bouzouki (Greek: μπουζούκι). The newer Greek ''tetrachordo'' bouzouki (4 courses of strings) was introduced into Irish traditional music in the mid-1960s by Johnny Moynihan of th ...

* Remco Helbers -

surbahar ''Surbahar'' (; ) sometimes known as bass sitar, is a plucked string instrument used in the Hindustani classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is closely related to the sitar, but has a lower pitch. Depending on the instrument's size, it ...

* Nathanael van Zuilen -

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

* " Epic Rock Choir" - choir ;Live lineup * Anneke van Giersbergen - vocals *

Ferry Duijsens A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

(Agua de Annique) - guitars * Merel Bechtold (

MaYaN Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

, Purest of Pain) - guitars * Johan van Stratum (Stream of Passion)- bass *

Marcela Bovio Marcela Alejandra Bovio García (born October 17, 1979) is a Mexican singer and violinist who is currently a member of the Dutch symphonic death metal band MaYaN. In 1995, she joined Hydra, a Mexican metal band, singing and playing violin. In ...

(

) -

backing vocal A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

* Joost van den Broek - keyboards * Ed Warby - drums * Arjen Anthony Lucassen - acoustic guitar (only on a few dates) *

Ruud Jolie Ruud Jolie (born Rudolf Adrianus Jolie on 19 April 1976 in Tilburg, Netherlands) is the lead guitarist of the symphonic metal band Within Temptation. Early life Ruud is an only child. Growing up, he first initiated himself to music by playing t ...

(

Within Temptation Within Temptation is a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in April 1996 by vocalist Sharon den Adel and guitarist Robert Westerholt. They have been classified by critics as gothic metal and symphonic metal, although each album contains other inf ...

Maiden UniteD Maiden uniteD is an acoustic project. Musicians from different bands join together to play an all-acoustic tribute to English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The songs are played with new arrangements. About In 2006, Joey Bruers was asked to perfor ...

, For All We Know) - Guitars (during South American tour) * Koen Herfst - drums (during South American tour)

Discography

; Studio albums * '' The Diary'' (2015) ; EPs * '' The Gentle Storm Exclusive Tour CD'' (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentle Storm Arjen Anthony Lucassen Musical groups established in 2014 Heavy metal supergroups Dutch progressive metal musical groups 2014 establishments in the Netherlands Dutch musical duos Dutch folk music groups