Before 2005, Primordial played a style of black metal heavily influenced by Celtic folk music and tales of the Irish lore. Starting here, though, the Celtic folk would be on the forefront, with the guitars becoming cleaner and the atmospherics becoming even windier than before. Even Nemtheanga, an established and renowned vocalist, had to change his style from his ghastly screams to a cleaner, more epically styled way of singing. The results are quite great, as The Gathering Wilderness sees this transition almost seamlessly from their old style. There are definitely traces of the old style, like the openings riffs of "The Song Of The Tomb", but for the most part, this is windy, gripping folk metal with Celtic stylings, and it works very well. Alas, the record is a bit samey, but the melodies from the guitars and the heartfelt singing from Nemtheanga really overshadows that aspect. At the end of the day, this is a record exemplifying that a band can change their already established sound and make another sound that is just as good or even better than the old one.
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