Well, here we have the merriest Cathedral album of all time. Lately I've been listening to this a lot and maybe those more merry tunes at last started to get into me. I don't know, I'm quite surprised myself, but now I see this almost as one of those classic albums the band have put out! Cathedral's debut 'Forest of Equilibrium' from 1991 is a funeral doom classic. With their 2nd album 'The Ethereal Mirror' (1993) they found groove and after that things weren't so grave, at least not until 'Endtyme' from 2001. Anyway, here Cathedral sound heavy like always, sound-wise more so than classic doom metal bands. They owe a lot to older bands for the blueprint, but have always had their unique touch to it all. There's no funeral doom to be heard here, but doomy heavy metal all the way, still with psychedelic dimensions.
Even though this was released just a year or so after 'The Carnival Bizarre' (1995), these 11 songs sound anything but a job completed in a rush. The music and excellent lyrics go hand in hand, so a lot of things happen in the songs. 'Urko's Conquest' is based on the movie 'Planet of the Apes' and most of the lyrics are sci-fi stuff, of course usually covering real life themes, e.g. bad politics. You can find some of Cathedral's best compositions on this one, but not after the title track. However, the music is simply timeless.
So, Cathedral took a step towards merrier things, but they still kept it heavy as fuck. There's even some porn funk parts on the "title" track and 'Fireball Demon' (like balls on fire, eh?!) is probably one of the Cathedral's jolliest songs ever. There are darker parts in many songs, but 'Magnetic Hole' sounds like it was straight from 'The Ethereal Mirror'. The band owe a lot to Black Sabbath, but then who doesn't? Cathedral just took doom metal and mixed their own stuff into it and it must be the best thing since Black Sabbath. If Ozzy is a madman, then Lee Dorrian is a total lunatic! Man, he sounds great and this time he hits right notes surprisingly many times. While Mr. Dorrian's output is close to Ozzy, he's still pretty much totally unique.
The band sound so tight, but still loose, if you catch my meaning. The sound is extremely organic and heavy, just listen to that bass, which is slightly buried under. The sound is fuller, sometimes maybe a tad too full. There's not a lot of studio tricks, just some vocals effects and such. Produced by Kit Woolven like the last album, this was recorded year after 'The Carnival Bizarre' in the same studio (Parkgate). This is the second album recorded with the same line-up and they still are together. I must not forget to mention another wonderful Dave Patchett painting, this time featuring with Lenin and apenauts and a lot of even weirder creatures.
This album never opened to me totally, not before now; the reason is that the"A-side" is superior to the other, really, there's no two ways about it!). I always felt this was a small disappointment after the amazing 'The Carnival Bizarre', because this partly went into the more merry songs. So what, the bands need to explore new things so they won't stagnate and become boring old, sad bastards. Cathedral never became that. Many bands do not have similar great discography in their roster. And will never have. This extraordinary league of Englishmen simply have the alchemic skills many others miss. I hope to catch Cathedral live some day, in a smoky small venue.
Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained
Reviewed by Lane
01/05/2003 21:36