As I write this a little storm is coming in over Holland. It has been some amazing summer days here, and now it seems like Thor (or Tor as we say) is riding across the sky with his hammer smashing clouds. We are having a BBQ so fingers crossed he is off for some sleep or go for some mjød soon!

Saturday we played in Roermond for the first time. The nice people behind Rockschool Open Air put up this festival for the first time and had no one less than their major and people from the local government attending. All festivals needs some time to establish, and there are always a few hiccups here and there. This year someone – I think he has a Norse origin – were a bit too enthusiastic behind his drum kit kicking through the bass-drum skin (how metal is that!). It took some time to get a new one, so the sets of the bands later had to be cut a bit short. We had a nice time there though, and especially for me meeting up with the Bergeners of Batallion. If you have ever met anyone from Norway, you know the Viking way of drinking. There were no exceptions Saturday…

This gig was our last before the summer kicks in. The plan is now to fully focus on making a new album. We already have around 7 songs we are working on and we are all super enthusiastic about them! We are in a very creative place at the moment, ideas are flowing! We found a new place we will do preproduction of the new songs. Very cool and relaxing place. It is really fun for me this time to be part of this song making process from the beginning. A few days ago Frank and me sat down with a brand new song we ended up really happy about. Today I am off to work in the studio with René on some other new songs. I can’t tell you much about the direction of the songs, but I can say it is going really well! And one more thing: the Gathering never stops surprising

I had a little photo session for a project here earlier this week with the multi talented and lovely Gema. She is working her portfolio and asked me to do a few for The Gathering. If you want to have a little look you can check her gallery here

Enjoy the summer/winter where ever you are on the globe and we will keep you posted with any news coming

Lots of love

Silje and The Gathering