The Gathering - If-then-else -2000- -eac-flac- Jun 2026

"This album marked the start of our adventure, the entry into this very different world of sound. The title is like giving someone directions: "You will find us behind The Garden, behind The Wall, under The Tree..." Recording this album we worked completely cut off from the world, in the cellars of the Sinus Studios in the historical part of the city of Berne; they are more than 300 years old. In the shelter of this creative "womb", it was easy to lose track of time and space." 

The Gathering - If-then-else -2000- -eac-flac- Jun 2026

Why does this matter for if-then-else ? Early 2000s Century Media CDs were notorious for manufacturing variances. Some pressings had minor jitter or pre-emphasis flags. An EAC rip in “Secure Mode” ensures that what you hear is exactly what the mastering engineer approved in 2000, not a corrupted version with popscand clicks.

The dusty cardboard box smelled of old attic insulation and forgotten memories. Elias pushed aside a stack of warped National Geographic magazines to reveal the prize at the bottom: a spindle of CD-Rs, labeled in faded black Sharpie. The Gathering - if-then-else -2000- -EAC-FLAC-

Released on July 3, 2000, through , if_then_else is the sixth studio album by The Gathering. It serves as a bridge between the experimental, spacey atmosphere of its predecessor, How to Measure a Planet? (1998), and the more "trip-rock" oriented sound found on later releases like Souvenirs (2003). THE GATHERING: If Then Else (ATMOSPHERIC METAL) Why does this matter for if-then-else

But for a specific breed of audiophile and digital archivist, that title carries extra weight. The search query is not just a request for music; it is a request for purity . It’s a demand for a perfect, bit-for-bit replica of the original CD master, ripped with Exact Audio Copy (EAC) and encoded into the lossless FLAC format. An EAC rip in “Secure Mode” ensures that

While The Gathering began as a pioneer of death-doom and gothic metal, by 2000, they had largely moved into progressive and alternative rock territories . On , they struck a balance between the raw power of distorted guitars and the atmospheric electronics that would define their later career.