UMUR
"Moonlight Archer" is the second demo recording by Dutch death/doom metal (later atmospheric rock) act The Gathering. The demo was independently released in April 1991. It´s the successor to the October 1990 "An Imaginary Symphony" demo and just like that release this demo was also recorded live although this time at a studio (at Caveman Studio on the 1st of April 1991).
The demo features five tracks and a total playing time of 29:47 minutes. "Second Sunrise" and "Downfall" also appeared on the "An Imaginary Symphony" demo but were re-recorded and included here too. "Second Sunrise", "Subzero", and "In Sickness and Health" would eventually make it unto the band´s 1992 debut full-length studio album "Always...".
Stylistically The Gathering play a relatively unique death/doom metal style, which have some similarities to artists like My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, but because they use keyboards/piano as a dominant instrument in the music still sounds vastly different from the early releases from other contemporary death/doom metal artists. The vocals by Bart Smits are articulate semi-growling vocals. Unfortunately he hasn´t completely left behind his throaty and sometimes hardcore influenced shouting/singing and the odd uplifting "Anthology in Black" song is marred by that vocal style but also a generally odd atmosphere and some thrashy riffing. It makes the demo an inconsistent listen and it´s a weird choice to include a track like that.
In fact it´s obvious upon having listened to the full demo that The Gathering still had a way to go maturing their songwriting and honing their skills before they were ready to record and release an album...but that´s what demos are for right! The sound production is decent considering that this is a live in the studio demo recording, and although the material is inconsistent in style and the band still needed to weed out the weakest parts of their songwriting ideas, "Moonlight Archer" is still an interesting death/doom metal demo. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.