arcane-beautiful
Doom is such an interesting genre...From slow doom, funeral doom, proggy doom, gothic doom, punky doom, drone doom whatever you want to call it, it's all doom at the end of the day
During the 90's, Cathedral went through many different phases of doom, and even continue today to cross the doom borders, broadening their style and trying new ways to depress us...and I hate to say it, but they never cease to amaze me.
Lee Dorrian really has been at the focal point of all this, and with the turn of the Century, he unleashed this beast upon us...
Going back to his slower doomy roots rather than the increase in tempo over the pervious 5, this went back to square one in a way, having a similar vibe to the first album...but I think this album may be a wee bit better.
I know thats kind of sacreligous, cause the album is a bit of a landmark, but I do think that it's a bit overated, and this album is very underlooked.
At times, I really thought Cthulu was gonna break down the walls of my house and swallow me in his tentacles of doom and despair...
Now I'm not gonna give the album too much praise, their are moments that I'm not the biggest fan of, but to be honest, the atmosphere alone is worth the experience.
1. CAthedral Flames - Very doomy intro. Dark & disturbing. 8/10
2. Melancholy Emperor - Very Sabbath at times. The middle section does have riffs that sound like planets crushing you. Great arrangement. 9/10
3. Requiem For The Sun - Intro reminds me of Boris. Can be a wee bit touch and go at times, but it's still pretty interesting nontheless. Chorus is pretty cool too. 8/10
4. Whores To Oblivion - Fantastic riffs. Amazing arrangment. Great chorus. Love the proggy middle section. Great vocals. Interesting Merzbow like ending. 10/10
5. Alchemist Of Sorrows - Great lyrics. Interesting chorus. Love the doomy middle section. The punky section is cool too. 9/10
6. Ultra Earth - The riffs fo sound like they could drag you to hell. Great doomy atmosphere. Love how well the song changes. The lyrics are also obviously Orwell inspired. 10/10
7. Astral Queen - Pretty hypnotic. Reminds me of Planet Caravan (Black Sabbath, in case you didn't know), but a good bit better. Simple, but effective, but it does drag on a wee bit. 8/10
8. Sea Serpent - Great riffs. The instrumental section is pretty interesting. Love Lee's vocals. This is also one of this songs where the verses are way better than the chorus. 9/10
9. Templars Arise! (The Return) - Wow, what an epic. The intro reminds me of Iron Maiden's Sign Of The Cross. Love the doomy intro and the slow hypnotic vocals. Very eerie and powerfull. Love the ending with the haunting organ and guitar work, before descending to a doomy grave. 10/10
CONCLUSION: It's not their best, but its definitly a personal favourite of mine. I also need a hand with which album I should buy next (I have the first 3, and the 2nd last one as well, so don't recomend those)