With if_then_else The Gathering got slightly closer at attaining the sound they were looking for. The album also inadvertently seems to have turned into the band's farewell to metal, eking it out before going for the full-on trip rock extravaganza with extra lashings of artistic license that is Souvenirs. Still, if_then_else is a little strange because the band are still developing their sound on it, but it's no way as experimental as Planet. Sure, you have your break beats and drum loops, but they're better placed and The Gathering seem to be paying slightly more attention to the structure of the songs, working with them rather than trying to force them into something that won't fit.

The thing that rates this above its predecessor is the fact that it is definitely heavier - in places the music tears into you and shakes you around while Planet just sat in the corner and dribbled. The three heavier tracks on the album: Rollercoaster; The Colorado Incident and Saturnine are all brilliantly viscous with distortion and atmosphere, though different to the kind of stuff on Nighttime Birds - there's certainly something more ripe in the sound, and something more solitary: there's also a feeling that this side of The Gathering's music has aged and aged well, and it's a real pleasure to listen to.

As ever, there are a few parts of the album which are there but not really there - I could never get myself to connect with songs like Shot To Pieces and Analog Park, they too, like many of the other tracks on the album, have a faraway feel, a particular distance in their tone, although other tracks like Morphia's Waltz and Amity really sound like Anneke's heart is in them, which is when she sounds her best.

It's all good though - if_then_else really is a rise from the slump that was How To Measure A Planet?, but those that think people like me are some kind of old school Gathering fanatic would consider it a climb-down. Nevertheless, it has more variety - at least here you get the melding of trip rock and metal - the two actually make quite a good combination and the album definitely benefits from this variety, the result being that it's more likely to remain in your CD player longer than the duration of one of its tracks.