Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unknown to many, absloutely phenomenal album!, January 26, 2004
Just from reading the titles like "Commiserationg the Celebration", "Ebony Tears", "Funeral Request" or "Reaching Happiness, Touching Pain" you can understand that these guys aren't the happiest lot around. But I promise, your expectations for oppressingly slow, heavy and gloomy music will be superceded by what you'll hear.Lee Dorrian, an ex-singer for grind-core legends Napalm Death, has made a U-turn and delved into the opposite end of musical extremes. To say that this album is slow won't tell you just how painfully sluggish and crushingly heavy these riffs are. Of 58 minutes, perhaps only in 2 or 3 minute-time the tempo rises above 80 bpm. The ending part of "Ethereal Architect", while pretty mid-tempo will seem to you like a Slayer-esque break in. The music is based on Black Sabbath inspired down-tuned dual guitar work. Solos are sparse and chaotic. Lee Dorrian shines throughout the album. His singing is mixed of 2 tracks, 1 is a tortured, low, moaning growl, and the second is painful moaning tone. These over-dubbed vocals work extremely well to create an atmosphere of cold inevitable depression. It seems that Lee's voice is coming from a grave, breaking it's way through shovel-loads of earth that are being thrown from above. The other highlight of this record is the drummer's work. It takes much of skill to be a doom-metal drummer, because you need to be inventive to fill in the gaps between the sparse rhythm beats. Mike Smail's performance is exemplary in this department. Too bad he is buried somewhat deep in the mix, and the cymbals are barely audible. And there's more to this album - the flute! It only appears in 2 tracks, but it plays in such a haunting screaming manner that it gives you chills. This is an excellent album, that firmly steps on an unknown before ground, and stays there alone. Unless you are naturally depressed, buy this album. (If you are, then stay away from it, you might not survive, and I'm not joking).
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting Gloom and Doom, January 22, 1999
By A Customer
This is the earliest Cathedral album I know of, it is definitely their darkest and most doom-laden sound. Each song is incredible, deathly lethargic masterpieces that would evoke feelings of dread and despair from the sunniest of personalities. Brooding tracks like "Ebony Tears" and "Serpent Eve" are slow and macabre, while "Soul Sacrifice" and "Comiserating the Celebration" are wickedly heavy and more aggressive. Overall, it is certainly a departure from the later neo-hippie, psychedelic great space coaster albums like "Supernatural Birth Machine". To me, this is the quintessential gloom/doom album, and no fan of the genre should be without it.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Slow and Heavy, January 28, 2005
Metal is a bipolar genre, on one end of the spectrum, musicians like Jason Becker, Racer X and Yngwie Malmsteen play lightning fast guitar, sometimes at tempos exceeding 200. Then at the other side of the spectrum, bands like Cathedral crank out music that moves at snail speed. But this ain't no normal slug, this is a 200 Ton slug made out of pure metal.
The songs are long. They are played very slow. And they are mighty heavy. There is enough distortion on this album to destroy most small amplifiers. That said, I like it. I like it alot. The album starts on a good note with an ambient melody, then segues into ultra-heavy, honest to Satan, sludge metal. The vocals are few and far between, but I doubt that you will notice as you will be nodding along with the distorted yet strangely melodic guitar. Then, they start sloing. Cathedral seems to be able to take it up a notch and unleash perfectly acceptable metal solos right out of the slow moving riff. Each song, lasts for about ten minutes, giving you plenty of time to get into it.
If slow heavy music is your thing, then you really can't go wrong with Cathedral. If it is not your thing, well, then grab a joint, you it will be.
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