Wasn't a fan of this album earlier, but it all comes down to your listening rig. With the big loudspeakers and the powerful power amplifier I have now, it's a completely different experience from the first time I heard it. The depth, variation, mixing and let's not forget the bass. They are giving us a bass that is quite interesting, and most other artists couldn't do it this well for many more years. My favorite song is probably Over Mode. The rolling bass and the progressing feeling, it's really awesome, and if I didn't know it was from 1999, I'd laugh at anyone who tried to tell me. Wish I was born earlier and had the hindsight to pick up all IM's albums on vinyl, but I was only 10 years old when this was released and sadly it took much longer before I found the genre. A must-have for all psy-trance listeners.

Glad to see ypu have joined the club!! 2 years older but that doesnt change a thing ! Exposure is all what matters!!! My first psy trance track was when i was 25 with my ex and her step father! Since the. Im a psy addict from IM, MWNN, OFORIA,ASTRIX,TICKETS ets the list goes on !

Re-listened to TG today, Infected's shown Incredible depth and dimension in this album and tbh it's one of my longtime favs =D

I'm a huge oldschool mushroom fan,with that being said,The Gathering is simply unmatched.Yes,The Gathering is different and it's also extremely dificult to understand.The only way you can understand it is to give it more time.In Classical Mushroom you can clearly see the classical music influence;BPEmpire stands out to be one of the best Full-On PsyTrance Album ever produced,not to mention the BEEEEEEAST Dancing With Kadafi and Infected Mushroom proved their talent in Ambient and Chill-Out by their fourth release Converting Vegetarians which turns out to be the most controversial IM album up to date.But what do we get here from The Gathering?Rediculously high-pitched voice samples,crazy grooves and insane acid lines.SIMPLY A MESS when I first listened to it in 2011.I thought it was a shame on Infected Mushroom and couldn't understand why so many oldschool lovers praised it,even hail it instead of Classical Mushroom as the best IM album ever produced.Annoyed and disappointed,I deleted TG from my laptop.It was not until 2013 that I downloaded it again in order to complete my Infected Mushroom collection and I decided to give TG a second chance despite the bad impression it left behind.Another hour wasted.Crap,shit.I can't even sit comfortably during the listening cession and to me listening to TG was kind of a torture.I can't bear it,I can't believe it's Infected's works from their early days and I had no idea why so many old school lovers praised it.I swore I would never listen to this crap again until 2015,when I accidently selected Returned Of The Shadows instead of The Missed Symphony,and that was when I really began to feel the power of this album,the dark power,the viscious energy embeded inside The Gathering.This new experience prompted me to give TG another listen and suddenly I was blown away by the darkness and coolness.Never would I realize that The Gathering would become one of my favourite albums later that year.And here I am,stunned and mind-blown by the wisdom and talent of these evil geniuses.It's not until the third listen that I began to appreciate the quite possibly darkest psytrance album in the world,The Gathering.A MUST IF YOU LIKE DEEP,FULL-ON PSYTRANCE,A MUST IF YOU ARE A HARDCORE PSYCHEDELIC GEEK,A MUST IF YOU ARE AN OLDSCHOOL PSY LOVERAN ABSOLUTE GEM IF YOU GIVE IT A TRY?NO,SEVERAL TRIES :)First Listen 2/10Second Listen 2/10Third Listen 10/10

Thx! Indeed I was much more open-minded on the 3rd listen. TG to my ears is much more goalish than psy-ish ;)And finally I get to know another goatrance lover! Yay!

Thx! Indeed I was much more open-minded on the 3rd listen. TG to my ears is much more goalish than psy-ish ;)And finally I get to know another goatrance lover! Yay!

Well, it is a most grate album you probably were more open minded on the third listen then beforethe music haven't changed a bit, but you did.Anyway I really find this album way more Goa (Night-Goa) then Psy-Tranceso I'll add Goa-Junkies to your list of people I'd recommend it toCheers!

"The Gathering" & "Mush Mushi" the only tracks i like it from entire career of Infected Mushroom...

'The Gathering' is the first album released by Infected Mushroom. Most Goa/Psy-Trance followers will already be familiar with this, but if you don't its surely worth a listen! 'The Gathering' features some fairly dark psy-trance, with a strong goa influence. The melodies and production are very good for this era, and the ability to layer so many unique sounds together in one album is quite a remarkable achievement. Tracks such as 'Psycho' and 'The Gathering' clearly showcase the melodies and production.I would definately recommend this album to all psy-trance and goa-trance fans, as it played a pioneering role in the psy-trance scene of the late '90s in my opinion. Best tracks in my opinion are 'Release Me', 'Return of the Shadows', 'Psycho' and 'Virtual Voyage', but all tracks are great.5/5

imo this is the best album that have done .. release me is the stand out track though the spacing between tracks itself is what i hate

Wen I got familiar wit the sound of Infected Mushroom their latest album was 'Conveting Vegetarians' which I didn't like that much. My friend was a great fan back then and we had different tastes in psychedelic music. I like the fast, dark, acid and mindfucking sound of 'The Gathering' absolutely the most. For me this is even better than 'Classic Mushroom'. 5/5

Infected Mushrooms best album by far. Psycho rocks still toay.. 4/5

This album is simply unmatched. Up to today, never has a duo of music producers delivered such an inventive, unique-sounding, mind-disturbing piece of psychedelic trance. It's not about darkness, it's not about a killer drive, it's purely about mind-altering experiences to the likes of their own band name. The details are amazing, the textures overwhelming, the musicality, unreal. The whole feel and sound of this album is so unique and unmatched that it just keeps on being my number one and probably will remain. Tracks like Virtual Voyage and Over Mode simply crack open your perception and flood your brain with mystic visions and tribal rituals, as most other tracks do. Like the soundtrack to the tale of an ancient world somewhere in between this reality and the next or a hymn to a long forgotten civilization, this cd catapultes you into that region of your subconsciousness which most people don't like to experience; the raw carnal nature and mystic origin of the human mind; fear & desire. In many ways, there are lots of experimental touches to this album; there are metal-influenced pieces, goth-piano sections, disturbing synth-infested passages, it all holds together pretty well while delivering a first-class cinematic experience. An absolute mind-blowing experience which will proudly go down as one of the greatest and most complex albums ever in the history of psychedelic trance. A milestone a mile wide.

Maybe a few of the songs might be labelled goa trance... But while this is the by far most "goasih" album of Infected Mushroom, it's also apparent, even this way back - what path they were to take (a musical path that is experimental psy trance at most - like that path or not). Nevertheless, this is a very good album - even for the more traditional goa or melodic&acid psy fans.

Sometimes you're only confronted with an album years after its' release and you wonder: If I dodged the bullet back then why does it have to come back and haunt me now?!? What surprises me most with IM is that even most old skool psyfans praise their earlier works. What's so amazing? Not that I can't detect talent behind TG. Off course, but with an ever imminent cheesy touch lurking around I can never relax and just enjoy TG. What will it be next to spoil the mood? A stupid high pitched Mickey Mouse voice, a cheesy sample (Release Me's "Die", "Psycho" at 5:01 etc), an annoying KILLARGH part, or a Steve Vai sounding guitar section (examples are legio, but the classic example is Blue Muppet at 5:56). Sad, really, but despite occasional plusses this sums up to two fat thumbs down. IM Sorry. IM really sorry!

Infected Mushroom have a tendency to insert little snippets from movies in their tracks. eg. Release Me contains audio sample from 1996 movie, Independence Day. Return Of The Shadows contains sample from 1991 film, Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Psycho contains sample from 1989 film, Batman. Tommy The Bat and Over Mode both contain samples from 1996 film, The Island Of Dr. Moreau.

Infected Mushroom's debut album "The Gathering" is definitely one of the best the psytrance scene produced. Amazing melodies throughout this album. THe whole thing has a fairy tale quality to it.