The Gathering are a Dutch rock band formed in Oss, North Brabant in 1989. The band's lineup currently consists of founding brothers René Rutten (guitars) and Hans Rutten (drums), Silje Wergeland, Hugo Prinsen Geerligs (bass) and Frank Boeijen (keyboards).
Ayreon is a musical project by Dutch songwriter, singer, musician and record producer Arjen Anthony Lucassen. Ayreon's music is described as progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electronica, experimental and classical music. The majority of Ayreon's albums are dubbed "rock operas" because the albums contain complex storylines featuring a host of characters, usually with each one being represented by a unique vocalist.
Anna Maria "Anneke" van Giersbergen is a Dutch singer, songwriter and guitarist who became known worldwide as the lead singer for the rock band The Gathering between 1994 and 2007. She also has a solo career. The project was originally called Agua de Annique, but now goes by her own name.
Arjen Anthony Lucassen is a Dutch singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist musician and record producer, best known for his long-running progressive metal/rock opera project Ayreon. Lucassen started his career in 1980 as the guitarist and backing vocalist of Dutch heavy metal band Bodine as Iron Anthony, before joining Vengeance in 1984. After eight years he left the band, wanting to go into a more progressive direction, and released two years later an unsuccessful solo album entitled Pools of Sorrow, Waves of Joy under the nickname Anthony.
Stream of Passion is a Dutch progressive metal band with symphonic and gothic influences founded by guitarist and composer Arjen Anthony Lucassen and Mexican singer, violinist, and lyricist Marcela Bovio. They have released four studio albums.
Marcela Alejandra Bovio García is a Mexican singer and violinist who is currently a member of the Dutch symphonic death metal band MaYaN.
Johan van Stratum is a Dutch bassist and a member of the progressive metal band VUUR.
Anneke van Giersbergen & Agua de Annique was the solo project of the former The Gathering vocalist, Anneke van Giersbergen.
ReVamp was a Dutch progressive metal band formed by singer Floor Jansen after her previous band After Forever disbanded in 2009.
Maiden uniteD is an acoustic project. Musicians from different bands join together to play an all-acoustic tribute to English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The songs are played with new arrangements.
Mayan is a Dutch symphonic death metal band founded by vocalist Mark Jansen, guitarist Frank Schiphorst, and keyboardist Jack Driessen. The band features many different vocalists in a mix of clean vocals, growled vocals, and screams, supported by an instrumentation combining both heavy metal and symphonic metal elements.
Darker Days is the third studio album by the Dutch progressive metal band Stream of Passion, released in 2011 on Napalm Records.
A War of Our Own is the fourth and final studio album by the Dutch progressive metal band Stream of Passion. Stream of Passion produced the album after leaving Napalm Records, financing it through crowdfunding website Indiegogo, and was their only album with the same line-up as its predecessor.
Dianne van Giersbergen is a Dutch spinto soprano singer. She is the founder and frontwoman of the progressive metal band Ex Libris, and she was the vocalist of German symphonic metal band Xandria from 2013 to 2017.
The Theater Equation is a live album and DVD/Blu-ray by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's progressive rock/metal rock opera project Ayreon. The Theater Equation originally consisted of a four live performances, with cast, choir and small orchestra, of the 2004 album The Human Equation, as an actual rock opera, complete with mise-en-scène. It is the first Ayreon live release, although Ayreon songs had previously been featured on live albums by two of Lucassen's other musical projects, and marks the first time an Ayreon album was performed live in its entirety. The Theater Equation consisted of four shows, all played in Rotterdam between September 18 and 20, 2015, with the last performance being the one recorded for the album.
The Gentle Storm is a Dutch musical project unveiled in 2014 by singer and lyricist Anneke van Giersbergen and composer and musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen, founder and leader of other musical projects such as Star One, Ayreon, Guilt Machine and Ambeon. The duo has previously collaborated in Ayreon albums Into the Electric Castle and 01011001. The project's debut album, The Diary, was released on March 23, 2015, in Europe, and the following day in the US.
In This Moment We Are Free – Cities is the debut studio album by Dutch progressive metal band VUUR. It was released on 20 October 2017, via Inside Out Music. Apart from the regular edition, the album was released on special editions including a CD digipak and a gatefold 2LP + CD.
Electric Castle Live and Other Tales is a live album and DVD/Blu-ray by Arjen Anthony Lucassen's progressive rock/metal rock opera project Ayreon, released on 27 March 2020. It is a live version of the 1998 studio album Into the Electric Castle, performed as an actual rock opera, complete with mise-en-scène; it is a recording of one of four live performances between 13 and 15 September 2019 in Tilburg to celebrate the original album's 20th anniversary in a way similar to The Theater Equation, with songs from other Lucassen projects performed once the songs from the albums were all performed.
The Darkest Skies Are the Brightest is the third solo studio album by Anneke van Giersbergen, released on 26 February 2021 by Inside Out Music. It was written entirely by van Giersbergen and produced by Gijs Coolen.
