Original Version American Import Version Rerelease Version 1. The mirror waters 7:10 1. The mirror waters 7:10 1. The mirror waters 7:10 2. Subzero 6:53 2. Subzero 6:53 2. Subzero 6:53 3. In sickness and health 7:00 3. In sickness and health 7:00 3. In sickness and health 7:00 4. King for a day 6:33 4. King for a day 6:33 4. King for a day 6:33 5. Second sunrise 6:43 5. Second sunrise 6:43 5. Second sunrise 6:43 6. Stonegarden 4:53 6. Stonegarden 4:53 6. Stonegarden 4:53 7. Always... 2:40 7. Always... 2:40 7. Always... 2:40 8. Gaya's dream 6:04 8. Gaya's dream 6:04 8. Gaya's dream 6:04 total time 48:14 total time 48:14 total time 48:14 Double LP Version Digipack Version 1. The mirror waters 7:10 1. The mirror waters 7:10 2. Subzero 6:53 2. Subzero 6:53 3. In sickness and health 7:00 3. In sickness and health 7:00 4. King for a day 6:33 4. King for a day 6:33 5. Second sunrise 6:43 5. Second sunrise 6:43 6. Stonegarden 4:53 6. Stonegarden 4:53 7. Always... 2:40 7. Always... 2:40 8. Gaya's dream 6:04 8. Gaya's dream 6:04 9. In Sickness and Health 7:27 10. Gaya's Dream 6:24 11. Always... 2:33 --- Bonus Disk: Moonlight Archer demo --- 1. Subzero 6:21 2. Anthology in black 3:49 3. Second sunrise 6:51 4. Downfall 6:04 5. In sickness and health 6:45 total time 78:03 total time 64:26
The Mirror Waters "birth, age, death. The sudden realization of aging and attempts to hide from time. Time is crucial yet essential. For ever or never, life lies between them." Slowly... Flying silent Touching the wind as it sadly sings... for me. Aging on the outside With my youth in my empty hands Lost all that I was living for, live no longer Couldn't resist looking in her eyes I saw myself, tears were falling The seas of her eyes reflected my old age Youth grows old, like winter follows spring Faster... Falling kingdom Dancers on winter winds, they dance... for me Nature's ways Life can't always be controlled Controlled by fear Scared of months and years, fear no longer Time leaves it's mark The years come but never go Masked is my face The mask of age will fall, hide no longer Couldn't resist looking in her eyes I saw myself, tears were falling The seas of her eyes reflected my old age Youth grows old, like winter follows spring Subzero "Imaging emotions as being a lake, the water can be calm or stormy. But can it be frozen; can emotions reach freezing point?" The bowels of my thoughts, icy lake Drain emotions from my bleeding soul Tears that follow burn my skin Dread to see myself, I ain't me The sun encircles my shape on the ice In my shadow I see people below Their frozen faces staring blank All crying without a sound Thousand degrees below Ice age has begun, Subzero Emotions running low My heart is so cold, Subzero Hatred in words, spewing from their mouths Verbal injection of a freezing void Sunrise in three directions As all the faces turn to laugh Thousand degrees below Ice age has begun, Subzero Emotions running low My heart is so cold, Subzero In Sickness and Health "Through marriage we're bonded, by death we're separated. But sometimes our dreams can keep us together. Life is transitory but love can be eternal." The cruelty of this world persists The cold wind speaks for our lost Whispering words, weaving worlds Her time has come, alas A man with opened eyes One stopped out of a dream With a view held within his mind The tears for his bride redeem Watching this world falling apart Like the dreams in a shallow sleep Countless are the nights they shared The mourning in his tears But morning still has broken A light in his world of dawn All beauty turned to rot His flowers, all are gone Close the eyes of eternal love Buries his face in his hands Her face looks so alive In the morning sun But morning still has broken A light in his world of dawn All beauty turned to rot His flowers, all are gone Dreams are nothing but illusions Illusions for one to see It's the visual projection of our inside And as empty as the heart in me As the heart in me... King for a Day "Stories about unicorns and dragons are just fairytales, so we're told. But don't we all have our personal dragons? Fantasy is a world not far from reality." In everyone hides a king for a day Nature's actors, in tragedies we play But deep bows the head that bears the crown For the weight of might can always pull us down Soon my reign will end I, a king without hands Soon this day will end As my tears descend Everyone has his own dragons to slay Look in her eyes, never turn away Soon my reign will end I, a king without hands Soon this day will end As my tears descend Every treasure you find And every road you take Has it's opposite side Sacrifices to make Dream on... Sleep on... Time is my only fear An enemy of sand My dreams are old A new king will rise Second Sunrise "Peace comes through thinking with your heart and not with words. Until then we'll light another candle for this world." What is left of our world, today Walls have fallen with peace But walls are build within our hearts Wars are fought within A cloak lies over our world A misery show without an end The masses follow the masses The blind will lead the way To see the colors that rest within your mind The paradise we seek lies inside Who's to blame, who will lose Now the dice have been rolled We must find the guilty ones Instead of condemning what has been done Who shall we praise now When all our gods are gone Living is not just to live In a conrete or cardboard box Think in a carbonized world Where all has been done before The thought of a perfect world On the pile of broken dreams To see the colors that rest within your mind The paradise we seek lies behind Who's to blame, who will lose Now the dice have been rolled We must find the guilty ones Instead of condemning what has been done From the smoking cities we shall rise And on the ashes we will build Praying for that one day The sun will rise again... Stonegarden "The dreamer walks a lonely journey. Through the sky he flies but with his feet on the ground, knowing the moon is always with him." And the dreamer sets his sails... Avoiding all cliffs and stones But the dreamer is never alone Always trying to catch the moon Sailing on the winds of desolation Horizon's my destination Through tears I see that the moon slowly sets And another attempt has failed... The waves of the sea drawn to the moon Like lovers they meet Carry the light to a distant unknown Catch it if you can Always will there be the stars Always will there be the moon Always will there be the rocks Will I always be alone? Always... "Sometimes words can not say what the heart feels. Music can express the things that our language cannot." Gaya's Dream "Infatuated by the extensiveness of the universe, it's easy to forget one of the most complex enigmas of this world: The human mind, a universe of it's own." Open the gates of the past With the key to our hearts Dream of the years gone by Centuries through mankind's eyes In the wasteland that grows inside Within me I shall find myself Slowly walking, pacing front See through these blind eyes Stepping on shadows, touching air Stones move as I stand still Seek the answers in the skies As we don't even know ourselves Silent, as the sun sets before our eyes In the wasteland that grows inside Within me I shall find myself For years of space technology Still we haven't learned Like children we explore Things we can't yet comprehend Open the doors of the past With the beating of a heart Dream as the years go by Carrying our own cross Seek the answers in the skies As we don't even know ourselves Silent, as the sun sets before our eyes Lyrics in plain text format	Line up Frank Boeijen : Keyboards, grand piano Hugo Prinsen Geerligs : Bass, flute, triangle Hans Rutten : Drums, windchimes Rene Rutten : Electric and accoustic guitars Bart Smits : Vocals and backing vocals Jelmer Wiersma : Electric and 12 string acoustic guitars Additional Musicians: Marike Groot : All female vocals Henk van Koeverden : Electronics, korg ms 10 Artwork Info Recorded and mixed 28-02-'92 - 07-03-'92 at the Beaufort studio's, Bovenkarspel, Holland. Produced and mixed by Han Swagerman sr. and "The Gathering". Engineered by Han Swagerman. Executive Producer: Mark Fritsma All music by "The Gathering". All lyrics by B. Smits Distributed by Roughtrade BV-Benclux, Roughtrade GMBH - G.A.S., Hard Vinyl - Spain, Semaphore - Rest of Europe The rehearsal "An Imaginary Symphony" and the demo "Moonlight Archer" are NOT for sale anymore... Try tapetrading!! For merchandise and info: The Gathering: c/o Hans Rutten Albardastraat 51 5344 HB Oss Holland c/o Bart Smits Ruusbrowgaarde 1 5343 JG Oss Holland Please enclose 1 IRC for sure reply, your letters will be answered!! T-shirts (grey, front + backprint) L, XL. DFI. 30,00 - US$ 15,00 - Bfr. 600 incl. P+P No cheques! Review I might be a bit prejudiced on this cd, because it's actually the first (metal) cd I ever bought, but I think it's also the best one I ever heard. The Gathering play a brilliant kind of doom / death metal on this album, it's almost hard to believe that it's their debut album. There are a lot of dreamy instrumental passages, and a lot of keyboards and female vocals are used. The male vocals are 'clear' and grunt, and both sound great. I think each of the songs are a masterpiece in itself and anyone who likes Doom or death metal at least should have heard this cd once. Rating: 9.5 out of 10