The Gentle Storm, the collaborative project between Arjen Lucassen and Anneke van Giersbergen, have unveiled the artwork for their album The Diary.
It was created by artist Alexandra V. Bach – and Lucassen reveals the finished work exceeded his expectations.
He says: “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 Gentle Storm music and explained the album concept.
“She made a mood board 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. It represents The Gentle Storm perfectly.”
The double-length album is due for release in 2015 via InsideOut and while former The Gathering vocalist van Giersbergen said she will tour to promote the launch, Ayreon mastermind Lucassen won’t be there.
It’s been a busy 2014 for the pair, with Lucassen recently named virtuoso of the year at the Progressive Music Awards, while van Giersbergen will reunite with The Gathering for their 25th anniversary show in the Netherlands on November 9.
She’s also working with Kari Rueslatten and Liv Kristine on The Sirens project. They made the tracks Sisters Of Earth and Embracing The Seasons available to stream last month.
