The Gathering drummer Hans Rutten has answered several fan questions regarding the future of the band in the wake of vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen\'s decision to leave the band. Rutten explains why there won\'t be a farewell tour, the main reason of Anneke\'s departure and The Gathering\'s future plans, including a new album.\"Not everybody knows The Gathering was founded by me, Hans, Rene and our former vocalist Bart Smits. Frank joined The Gathering 6 or 7 months later. We also had already made 2 albums before Anneke came to the band. Simply put; there was a Gathering before Anneke, and there\'s a Gathering after Anneke. We like to see this as a third era. People tend to forget we asked her to join The Gathering back in 1994. We gave her all the musical space, so she could grow, as she has a unique voice and is very talented. We are aware of the fact that Anneke\'s voice has been very important for the music of The Gathering. She became, at least for some people, more important then the other band members. As I said, she has a terrific voice, but she simply isn\'t The Gathering. We want to continue making music and like The Gathering always evolved we will again. Rene and Frank always came up with 90% of all the musical ideas. Four members of The Gathering continue, so why change the name? Even if we would change our name, we would be labelled as \'the ex-Gathering members\' anyway. It won\'t be an easy task, but in all the sadness we feel about Anneke\'s decision, there\'s also a lot of excitement going on right now. We can do whatever we want. All of a sudden there\'s a lot of fresh space surrounding us. We are aware that our new album might be the most important one we\'ll probably ever make. So we will take all the time we have, will not rush into things. Chemistry between the vocalist and the music is the most important thing in music, at least for me. I don\'t care about hotshot producers, fabulous guitar players, drummers who care more about what kind of endorsement deals they have. I care about chemistry, and with Anneke we had a terrific kind of symbiosis. We think this is possible with other vocalists. It will be different, it will take some time for people to get used to it.\"
Read the entire interview on blabbermouth.net.
