Customer Reviews

Caravan Beyond Redemption

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Well, i must say that this is an inpressive piece of work. They have created a wall of sound by expanding upon what they have done in the past and added a whole new atmosphere to their music. Cathedral have taken a simpler approach to song writing using chunky riffs and and the chaotic outpourings from singer Lee Dorrian. They have added to their sound by incorporating flutes, horns, and other types of percussion that doesn't distract the listener but envelops them into the world of Cathedral. Stand out tracks are Voodoo Fire, Unnatural World, Captain Clegg, Earth Messiah, Kaleidoscope Of Desire, Heavy Load and Omega Man. But the album itself is an all around great listen and is strongly recommended to their fans and also to first time listeners!

The members of Cathedral are great musicians. There is no doubt about it. The way each instrument intertwines with the other, the bass and guitar(s) dancing around each other to the thunderous drums, and the singer sailing on their thick ocean with witty yet always wicked lyrics.

The groove of this group is unmistakable. One hardly needs more than a few beats to known that it is Cathedral. They know the meaning of jamming, and do it throughout this entire opus. I have no favorites here; the songs belong together and are all great.

Check this group out if you haven't already. They are a great band who make rich and powerful music.

The ignorance displayed by the other reviewer is pepulsive. Caravan is Cathedral's best work thus far, even though it is not as doom as the stuff that they recorded a decade ago. Bands chage, and Cathedral has morphed slowly and positively, it's not as if they jumped on a passing-by trend. Every song on this album is a masterpiece and is fun to listen to because of the energy and excitement. For those of you who want your music to make you feel like a piece of crap should look elsewhere.

I don't know what's happening to Cathedral. Their recent output, while decent, just pales in comparison to their earlier classics. "Forest of Equilibrium" is a bona fide doom classic, and "The Ethereal Mirror" and "Carnival Bizarre" were more polished but lost none of the heaviness. After that, it seems to have gone downhill; while there are good moments, overall something is missing and the heaviness is diluted. They seem to want to sound more like Monster Magnet. Maybe that's what Cathedral wants. But as the flagship doom metal outfit, Cathedral owes us quality product. Let us hope they don't turn into another Metallicrap. As for now, stick with "Ethereal Mirror" if you want to hear them at top form.

If you expect something closer to "Forest of equilibrium" or "The ethereal mirror", you're way off wrong. Cathedral's sound changed since those albums, and their music is quite different now. An example of that is this "Caravan Beyond Redemption", that continues what "Supernatural Birth Machine" ended. The album is not as opp/deppressive, dark or doomy as the first releases. The atmosphere is different, more optimistic if you like, less deppressive. The long, dense and ultra-slow songs are matter of the past, that's why "Caravan..." has another vibe. Happier, or more optimistic, as I said before. More fast mid tempos, and cool melodies. That's why the album sounds a little repetitive sometimes. But after listening to the album, I had the impression that Cathedral worried more about writing a complete album (I mean with solos, melodies, different rhythms, interesting arrangements, etc) than writing THE album. This is why "Caravan..." is not their best album. Overall ii's a nice album, easy to listen to, and catchier than "Forest..." or "The Carnival Bizarre". The whole idea behind "Caravan..." is the imaginary and bizarre world behind a travelling and moving circus, with all its excentricities and freaks, colors and figures; hippie stuff and stoner rock fashion...(a great painting by Dave Patchett, again!!)...I liked the album. It's funny, it has its ups and downs, and it surely does have good songs, such as "Voodoo Fire", "Satanikus Robotikus" and the ultra melodic and happy "Kaleidoscope of desire"...If you're not into Cathedral I strongly recommend you "The Ethereal Mirror"..."Caravan Beyond Redemption", if you don't have this album, you're not missing anything extraordinary, but it is worth listening...

This album left me stone cold, Cathedral have lost all their credibilty and turned into just another stoner rock/doom-band with nothing to separate them from the mass of Kyuss/Monster Magnet-wannabees out there.

Perhaps the biggest dissapointment for me was the lyrics, they're so conventional, and this from the band that gave us "The Voyage of the Homeless Sapien", "Night of the Seagulls" and "Purple Wonderland" to name but a few.

While on this album Lee Dorrian is droning on about revolution and freedom for the people, politicians controlling us through television etc etc, like a thousand other hippie bands have regurgiated a thousand times.

Sorry, I didn't like it.

welcome back CATHEDRAL MASTERS OF THE WORLD.AWEZOME NEW ALBU

cathedral are a unique band because of there brutal i mean house rattling brutalness and dorrians one of a kind voice. first of all i believe a 5 star cd is one where you like every song and i mean every song, and there are few of those out there. if quality of the 9 songs on this cd i think are majestic could make up for the 3 i dont like it would be a classic. voodoo fire in my opinion was not only the best cathedral song ever, but the best song of 98. got to love the virgin girls scream on this one. absolute metal heaven here. unnatural world is also a killer. these 2 kinda remind of the great sabbaths back to back classics of war pigs and paranoid. satanikus robotikus is so heavy it will knock your drywall off your ceiling. freedom is cathedral going top 40-anybody will love this tune including the korn lovers the limp bizkit eaters and evn you weak kneed pop lovers, just have someone nail your hair on to your head cause your brains might explode from there power. captain clegg follows and this is one mean dude, but i doubt he even has the balls that this song kicks out. earth messiah follows and it too is heavy yet catchy as a staple gun to your forehead. the 2 minute instrumental i skip. revolution is for the hippie metalheads which i am not and it will blow your ears off and make you pick yourself off then floor-fantastic guitar solos here. kaleidoscope of desire is a risky song for these guys to do but they pull it off-this one is undescribable groovy, heavy melodic but really rewarding to the ears. the last song i like is heavy load which would make my top 10 fav catheral tunes, so damn catchy and skull crushing it makes me want to grow another pair of ears. omega man i liked the chorus but that was it. dust of paradise i like most of but the slow down singing parts lost me. cathedral is a great band that keeps improving. the 9 songs i mentioned on here are beyond good there pulvarizing plums.

This is a just ok album. There are no songs to make the difference. If you want really good albums by them check The carnival bizarre - The ethereal mirror - supernatural birth machine. These are really very good albums. In this one they are monotonous and a little boring as there are not so good melodies.

I have all of Cathedral's work, some even on vinyl. To put it lightly, I'm a dedicated fan. This album is one of the best CDs I've ever bought: The regording is good, every track is a rocker, the lyrics still blow smoke throught your brain, and they have left behind some of the cheese-board sounds.

Buy this cd if you liked Ethereal Mirror, Voyage of the Homless Sapien, or Soul Sacrifice, as it's a synthesis of all 3.

Well worth the cash, you won't be dissapointed