Always (The Gathering album)
album by The Gathering
Always… is the debut studio album of the Dutch band The Gathering. The record was initially released on 9 June 1992, in Europe by Foundation 2000 and in North America by Pavement Music. In 1994, a first remixed version of the album was released by Foundation 2000. In 1999, a second remixed version was released by Psychonaut Records. The Mexican edition was released by Scarecrow Records.
Background
On this album, Bart Smits was the lead singer with death growls vocals and occasional clean female vocals by the guest member Marike Groot, who also joined the Gathering on stage for most of their first live shows. At the end of 1992, both Smits and Groot left the group due to musical differences, being briefly replaced by Niels Duffhuës and Martine van Loon.
Musical style
Always... is categorized as a classic death-doom metal album and one of the earliest gothic metal albums.
The music features slow, funereal riffing and heavy guitars typical of the genre, but incorporates prominent keyboard parts and piano sections that add a dark, church-like ambience and an epic atmosphere.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Always (The Gathering album)” is album by The Gathering. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Always, Gathering and album, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “album by The Gathering” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2253584. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1992, 2000, 1994 and 1999.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Always (The Gathering album)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Always (The Gathering album) primary sources, Always (The Gathering album) archive and Always research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Always (The Gathering album)”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Always (The Gathering album)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.