UMUR "Statik Majik" is an EP release by UK doom metal act Cathedral. The EP was released through Earache Records in April 1994. It bridges the gap between the band´s second- and third full-length studio albums "The Ethereal Mirror (1993)" and "The Carnival Bizarre (1995)". The vinyl version of the EP features three new original compositions, while the CD version features "Midnight Mountain" (from "The Ethereal Mirror (1993)") as a bonus track. Columbia Records re-released "Statik Majik" in August 1994 with the title "Cosmic Requiem" and replaced "Midnight Mountain" with "A Funeral Request - Rebirth". The latter is a bonus track from the Japanese version of "The Ethereal Mirror (1993)". "A Funeral Request - Rebirth" is not a totally new track though as the original version (titled "A Funeral Request (Ethereal Architect)") is found on the band´s debut full-length studio album "Forest of Equilibrium (1991)".

As mentioned above the "Statik Majik" (CD) version of the EP features 4 tracks. A bit more remarkable maybe, is the fact that the total playing time of the EP is 40:20 minutes. So the EP features album length quantity, which is in large part due to the 22:42 minutes long "The Voyage of the Homeless Sapien", which was by far the longest and most progressive structured track in the band´s discography at that point. It wasn´t until 2005 that the band released an even longer track in "The Garden" (26:58 minutes long) from "The Garden of Unearthly Delights".

Stylistically the material on "Statik Majik" is doom metal with strong psychedelic stoner doom leanings. Anyone familiar with the sound of the material on "The Ethereal Mirror (1993)" won´t be surprised by the overall musical direction. "Midnight Mountain" is one of the band´s more light weight stoner doom metal tracks featuring hand claps and "uhs" and "ahs" from lead vocalist Lee Dorrian. It´s an energetic and fun song, although it´s still reasonably heavy. "Hypnos 164" is one part twisted and dark doom metal and one part psychedelic and oddball stoner doom, with Dorrian performing even more weird and freakish vocals and lyrics. "Cosmic Funeral" follows the same formula with a slow and doomy first part and then an explosion of darkly psychedelic synths and heavy riffs, and Dorrian performing if possible even weirder vocals and lyrics than he does on "Hypnos 164".

Although all mentioned tracks are high quality material, it´s the 22:42 minutes long "The Voyage of the Homeless Sapien" which is the real attraction here. A strongly psychedelic flavored and progressive structured stoner/doom metal song, featuring many different sections, atmospheres, and textures. If you hadn´t noticed before (and you should have), it shows in abundance how adventurous Cathedral are.

"Statik Majik" features a dark and heavy sounding production job, and the organic and raw sound suits the material well. You can hear all details in the mix, but it´s still heavy and dark sounding enough to satisfy a doom metal fan. Upon conclusion it´s one the most different and unique sounding releases in the band´s discography (in close competition with the "Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)" EP from 1996), and it´s through and through a high quality release fully deserving a 4 star (80%) rating.

arcane-beautiful Following their second album, again Cathedral showed a kind of progression into their 3rd album, with the use of an ep.

Now this is quite different from Cathedral's other e.ps. Yes it does show that progression that The Carnival Bizarre will show and some songs bare likeness to, and I believe may be foetal stages of the tracks from The Carnival Bizarre. But, this e.p also has a big mammoth over 20 minute track. Now, it easily could have gone on an album, but to be honest, putting it on this e.p kind of makes it special. It's the landmark moment, but the other 2 songs also are quite strong and show great potential (altough you can see why their not on albums to be honest). And again the sound quality fails in comparison to the albums at times.

As with most e.ps, this one is good, but its not a must have. You get this along with the dualdisc edition of The Ethereal Mirror, and its worth having it to get it free, but it's not something to try and get from the ends of the earth. This version is different to the original, with this one only having 3 tracks.

1. Hypnos 163 - Full of great riffs and some real kick ass moments. This song is quite reminiscent to Vampire Sun, at times. I love the punk moments in the verses. 8/10

2. Cosmic Funeral - I love how the song transforms from a slow doomy song to a disco punk song. Great arrangement and Lee shows some amazing tones to his voice. 9/10

3. The Voyage Of The Homless Sapien - This 22 minute epic really is a trippy journey. Now Cathedral have 2 major epics, with this failing slightly in comparison to their other epic The Garden, because I felt that The Garden really was a perfect jigsaw put into place, and this is more of a crooked edged one, but its the crookedness that kind of stands out in the track. The lyrics are also quite funny, when you analyse them. This song also shows a wide range of influences, from Black Sabbath (big suprise), Celtic Frost, Frank Zappa, The Cure, Siouxsie & The Banshees, and a whole back of crazy. 10/10

CONCLUSION: It's not perfect, but enjoyable nontheless.

Time Signature The voyage of the doom-ladden sapien...

Genre: heavy metal / stoner metal / doom metal

The CD version starts out with "Midnight Mountain", which I think is an unnecessary track, since it is already included on "Thereal Mirror". But, since the main theme of "Statik Majik" seems to be stonin', trippin' and groovin', I guess it fits well into the framework of the EP.

"Hypnos 164" is a groovy stoner rock song which starts out with a barrage of screaming, ear-piercing (no, not like that!), noisy feedback. "Cosmic Funeral" starts out a dark and slow doom metal song, but about halfway into the song, it changes into an uptempo groovin' and trippin' rocker. The magnum opus of the EP, and perhaps of the nand, is the 22 minutes long epic, "The Voyage of the Homeless Sapien", which, I guess, is essentially a progressive doom metal track. There are surprisingly few stoner elements in this opus although, through its progressive nature, it does appeal to psychedelia.

I would recommend this album to all fans of doom metal just because it contains a track that offers 22 minutes of doom and gloom (I think that it will appeal to fans of My Dying Bride's avant-garde approach to doom metal). The other songs are also quite good, but it is the 22 min. track that makes this EP really interesting.