Now available as a posh import digipack edition!
Long before doom metal burst into popularity with both metalheads and non-metalheads alike at the end of the 90's, there was Cathedral, the British band that helped to reshape the sound of doom and push it into new areas of sonic extremism, and who became the flagship band for Rise Above Records, the label that would bring such titans of slow n' low heaviness as Church Of Misery, Moss, Electric Wizard, Unearthly Trance, Witchcraft, Orange Goblin, Sunn O))), Sleep and Goatsnake to your stereo. During the 80's, there were a handful of bands that continued to fly the flag of trad doom that Sabbath kickstarted, Saint Vitus, Candlemass, Trouble, and the whole Maryland doom crowd, for instance, but there wasn�t anybody as slow or as heavy as Cathedral, who took the notion of the crawling Sabbathian riff to whole new levels of torpor. Formed after singer Lee Dorrian bailed from grindcore pioneers Napalm Death in 1989, Cathedral combined the heaviest modes of classic doom with Dorrian's unique vocal style, a love of 70's prog rock, and a guitar sound that seems as if it had been carved out of slabs of pure granite. They signed to Earache and released their debut album Forest Of Equilibrium, which has become one of the all time classics in the doom metal pantheon; later albums would pursue a groovier, more rocking sound that the band pretty much perfected on 1993's The Ethereal Mirror. Both of these crucial early albums have just been reissued by Earache in expanded packages that have the original albums bundled with previously out-of-print bonus material, and each comes with a DVD that features a documentary on the making of the album; both are fucking ESSENTIAL for doom metal fans.
When Cathedral's Forest Of Equilibrium came out in 1990, there really wasn't anything else like it; the British doomsters had produced one of the most crushing, sorrowful doom albums up to that point, heavy on the Sabbath influence of course, but IMMENSELY slower and heavier and more extreme, with Lee Dorrian's deep distinctive growl still holding over some of the grit and hellfire from his brief stint as the frontman for UK grinders Napalm Death. Not only that, but there was a heavy 70's prog rock influence going on with the trippy flutes and psychedelic flourishes that appeared sporadically throughout the album, a unique touch that would later influence legions of newer doom crews. The duo of guitarists Garry Jennings and Adam Lehan crafted monolithic, suffocating heavy slow-motion riffs that crept over the pounding glacial drumming, creating some of the heaviest metal ever heard up to that point. But the album starts off with a sense of disorientation as the flue and acoustic guitar of the intro piece "Picture Of Beauty And Innocence" suggest something much more airy and light, only to pave the way for the sickly harmonies and slurred doom of "Commiserating The Celebration". One of the only eruptions of speed on the album is the short song "Soul Sacrifice", which starts off as a pounding grooving sludge jam, but then evolves into a ripping Judas Priest-like riff. Aside from that song, though, the band moves through these epic, ultra-long songs (several come close to the ten minute mark) like a wave of molasses, coloring their ponderous Sabbath influenced doom with morose, despair-filled minor-key melodies and those meandering Comus-like flutes.
The end of the cd features the legendary Soul Sacrifice EP, which some consider to be one of Cathedral's finest releases; there's an extended version of the title track, which also appears on Forest Of Equilibrium, as well as three exclusive tracks, "Autumn Twilight", "Frozen Rapture", and ""Golden Blood (Flooding)", all of which continue in the same oppressive style of doom as Funeral.
And the Return To The Forest DVD features a forty-minute documentary that goes into great depth on the recording of Forest Of Equilibrium with in-depth interviews with the members of the band, discussions about the formation of Cathedral, footage of early shows, getting signed to Earache, and even a fairly extensive conversation with artist Dave Patchett who designed Cathedral's hallucinatory, Boschian album art. As with the documentary for Ethereal Mirror, there's a ton of amazing information included here, and the dvd is worth the admission price all on its own.
And on top of all of that, both reissues are packaged with newly re-designed booklets and inserts that present Patchett's artwork in extended form. Both reissues come highly recommended, and are totally essential for any doom fans that don't already have these classic albums in their collection.