THE GENTLE STORM Featuring ARJEN LUCASSEN, ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN: 'Heart Of Amsterdam' Video Released

February 28, 2015

"Heart Of Amsterdam", the new video from THE GENTLE STORM, the collaboration between AYREON mastermind Arjen Lucassen and former THE GATHERING singer Anneke Van Giersbergen, can be seen below. The song is taken from THE GENTLE STORM's debut album, "The Diary", which will be released on March 25 via InsideOut Music.

Says Anneke about "Heart Of Amsterdam": "The song is a tribute to the city of Amsterdam, the hometown of the story's leading character Susanne.

"Seventeenth-century Amsterdam was a center of shipping, shipbuilding, and trade. Amsterdam flourished, and a wonderful city was the result.

"We shot the video in the center of Amsterdam. It was freezing cold and I couldn't move my fingers anymore during the last shots, but it was all worth it. I love how the video turned out!"

Lucassen and Van Giersbergen originally crossed paths in 1998 for AYREON's breakthrough third album, "Into The Electric Castle". Ten years later they teamed up again for AYREON's seventh album, "01011001", both having established themselves as world-renowned heavy metal/rock artists in the decade between releases. Although their respective musical styles went in vastly different directions during that time, Arjen and Anneke retained a common ground that ultimately led to the creation of THE GENTLE STORM.

THE GENTLE STORM's double album is an epic production of AYREON proportions, divided into two parts as a full-on metal assault (CD1) and lighter folk arrangements (CD2). It also heralds Anneke's return to the realms of heavy guitars and soaring vocals reminiscent of THE GATHERING's breakthrough album "Mandylion".

"The Diary" cover artwork can be seen below. Arjen said: "I loved the front cover of the last STREAM OF PASSION album, so I tracked down the cover artist, Alexandra V. Bach. I sent her some samples of the THE GENTLE STORM music, and explained the album concept. She made a moodboard that captured the feel of the story and the music. We then gave her the go-ahead to design the cover. She did an amazing job that exceeded our expectations: Alexandra's cover art represents THE GENTLE STORM perfectly!"

THE GENTLE STORM's album release will be followed by live dates through the spring and summer European festival season.

Known for touring extensively year after year, Anneke will take THE GENTLE STORM on the road backed by well known Dutch talents. Arjen, however, will not be part of the live production.

thegentlestormdiarycd

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).