Customer Reviews

Ethereal Mirror

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After leaving Napalm Death, Lee Dorrian formed Cathedral. From the ultra fast, to the ultra slow. Cathedral's first effort "Forest of equilibrium", it's 100%doom metal. All the songs are ultra slow, deppressive and, honestly, you should have a patient ear or twisted mind =) to listen to the whole album. The same goes for Napalm Death's first releases (in both cases, you0re in the edges of extremity, whether if it's slow or fast). In "The Ethereal Mirror", Cathedral's second release, the thing is a bit different. First of all, a proper sound, much better than "Forest...", and more diversity in the music, makes this album more "listeneable". Well, everything is a matter of tastes, that's for sure. I found T.M.E. more rich and diverse. There are different speeds and tempos. Of course, when you talk about "speed" and "tempos", I'm talking about more of "fast mid-tempos", than fast songs, because Cathedral manages to create a heavy, punishing and dense atmospheres, and never speeds up like a death metal band. And the sound plays an important role, helping in the creation of these backgrounds, filled with 70's looks, using in the titles words such as "luxuria", "phantasmagoria", "funeral", ashes", etc, plus Dorrian's deppressing voices, you have a final product that stands out for its DARKNESS and BIZARRE atmpospheres, which are Cathedral's trademark.
"Ride", "Midnight mountain" and "Grim Luxuria" are Cathedral's classics, and perfect examples of the band's talent. From song 1 to 6 you have diversity, like the songs mentioned above, quite different from their debut "Forest...". But from 7 to 10 you have the ultra slow and dense songs more likely to "Forest...", with different changes of rhythms and longer than 7 minutes aprox. Personally, "Phantasmagoria" is my favorite.
And the bonus material is great. "Sky lifter", a fast heavy but rockin instrumental, faster than any other Cathedral song, with lots of changes of rhythm. Totally worthy! And the '93 version of "A funeral request" is much better, and a little bit faster than "Forest..." version...

Overall, a great release from Cathedral's doomsters. Heavy, doomy, bizzare, but diverse. Not ultra fast, but equal extreme...totally worth the buy, even if you're not a doom metal fan!!!!!

The Ethereal Mirror marks the begining of cathedral into experimentation and the mixture of a variety of influences, such as groovy 70s styles , pyscodelic tunes, death and doom metal, and of course Sabbath (Sabbath adjective never is missing with them) because in "forrest of equilibrium" sound can be appreciated as all doom , and the texture of sounds is pretty mouch the same in every track of that debut album, but with "The Ethereal Mirror" this band from Birmingham England entered the "big leagues" of grindcore and doom groups that at the time (mid 90s) catched the eye of record labels interested in the global distribution of the new wave of extreme metal mostly from Earache label catalogue (entombed, carcass, fudge tunnel), so that new perspective inspired Cathedral to improve their sound with the influences before mentioned without compromise their integrity and they did it great! cathedral can be now considered as one of the most interesting bands in Brittish Metal history,

Now, "The Ethereal Mirror" is maybe Cathedrals most "comercial" release therefore is one of their best recorded albums due to "columbia/earache" brief association , this album is like caviar, the more you test it , the more you like it, "ride" , "enter the worms", "midnigth mountain" and the beautifull and acoustic "impresioned in flesh" made of "The Ethereal Mirror" and album that worths every cent.

Note: i get good news about forthcoming cathedral album titled by now "The garden of unearthly deligths" wich is in recording process since last may/8/2005 and schedulled for autumm 2005 release, i cant wait, i dont know about you all
HM

Cathedral, at the begining of thier tenure, unleashed upon the world thouroughly harsh, slow as mollasses DOOOOOMMMM. The Ethereal Mirror, although ostensibly Doom metal, sees Cathedral lightening up a little bit; acoustic touches, a more positive lyrical quality and hippy-ish groovy breakdowns.Songs such as "Ride" showcase the new Cathedral well, while songs such as "Jaded Entity" reach emotionally tortured peaks-harkening back to early Cathedral only this time sped up and contained in a more traditional structure.Solid retro riffing and subject matter work most of the time; at others they seem such an obvious affectation that it boarders on gimmickry.Many suspected that a major label deal had a lot to do with this change, while I, and others, see it as a natural (organic duuude) progression. Still, a solid slab of doomy retro heaviness regardless.

This is a really adept, well written rock album.
It's not necessarily 'doom' in the narrow sense of the word, so if you're trying to fill in the gaps of your 'I only like one kind of music' record collection, you'll be disappointed by this.
However, if you like pounding, fun (what a novel concept!), and LOUD riffage, this album will deliver in spades.
You'll also get the misery of funereal tunes like Phantasmagoria, etc, which is all good here, but if you want it really bleak, you'll want to click through and get yourself lost in the 'Forest...'
But I'd rather sink a few beers, take my shirt off and stagger around punching the air to 'Enter the Worms'!

Unbelievable reviews. 5 stars by 9 out of 10 of you is just incredible. I just found the right forum. I hope Lee Dorrian found time to read your reviews because he kept on putting Ethereal Mirror down to the metal press, describing it a "disco" album for the way it came out.

As it was, Dorrian was unhappy because the record company (Columbia?) was the one that brought in the producer. Though Cathedral was still with Earache Records, Columbia licensed some of the artists on the Earache roster. After Forrest Of Equilibrium, Cathedral recorded the EP Soul Sacrifice for Columbia. I think Columbia wanted to test Cathedral's marketability. Then Ethereal Mirror was unleashed, not just to the doom metal masses, but to the HEAVY METAL world. Ironically, the metal press who got advance copies of the CD hailed it to no end. But as soon as Lee Dorrian was giving interviews and calling his CD disco, the press began parroting him. They still do until now.

Fortunately, Ethereal Mirror came out exactly like it did. It is clean, loud and very thick that it is so crushingly heavy. Don't be fooled by tracks 2,3 and 4 (track 1 being an intro) for their hard rocking, headbanging, galloping tempos--outstanding heavy metal songs nevertheless, because the succeeding songs get really incredibly HEAVY. Lyrically, some are lighter and some are dark but I don't care. I'm a sucker for humongous riffs and this one's loaded with it. The Ethereal Mirror possesses no boundaries for its appeal is unlimited. Lee Dorrian's vocals are brutal and at times dementedly clean but not quite as death metal guttural as in Forrest Of Equilibrium and In Memoriam. Ultimately, every Cathedral CD is worth checking out but the Ethereal Mirror stands out as the bottom line among Cathedral's releases.

I bought the Ethereal Mirror CD in late '95 on the strength of the reviews and recommendations of the press, and read in dismay the negative comments of most metal press people and fan mail on metal magazines of it as they parroted Lee Dorrian's disgruntlement with it all these years. But deep in my heart I always knew what a great CD it is. Simply said, it is one of my all time favorites. If you are a heavy metal freak who loves all things heavy, do yourself a favor by buying the Ethereal Mirror.

Out of all the Cathedral CDs I own, this by far is the best. Something about this album sets itself apart form the others. I found that I got bored with some of the other Cathedral albums - not so with this one. As soon as I hear the chugging beginning riff of "Ride" a smile comes accross my face and all that is left to do is crank the volume all the way up.

This is the definitive Cathedral album. Every song here is a classic, and this is a CD any metalhead needs in their collection. I promise, this isn't a CD that will gather dust. Cathedral is a very unique band, that can't accurately be compared to anything else. Devastating guitar tone, slow heavy riffs, trippy lyrics, and Lee Dorian's bizzare vocal stylings all combine here to make the album that Cathedral's other albums only wish they were.

This album is so cool I can hardly stand it! I listen to it every time I am messed up! It will take you through the whole cosmos and back!

This is a great masterpiece for all doomed fans in the world. This album is surely Cathedral's best album till now, and it's groovy, that is for sure. If you live for doom-metal, this album has to be in your collection. Stay Doomed!!!!!!!!

One of the best I've ever heard. some of their more recent stuff has disapointed me a little but that is not surprising as this is their best. It's like satanic flower power. One thinks of hendrix but even more Black Sabbath.