CATHEDRAL — Forest of Equilibrium (review)

CATHEDRAL — Forest of Equilibrium album cover

Album · 1991 · Doom Metal

5/5 · 2011-07-13
UMUR

"Forest of Equilibrium" is the debut full-length studio album by UK doom metal act Cathedral. The album was released through Earache Records in December 1991. Cathedral was formed in 1989 by lead vocalist Lee Dorrian and guitarist Gary Jennings. They went through a couple of lineup changes and released two demos before being signed by Earache Records. The band made quite an impact on the doom/death metal scene with the release of "Forest of Equilibrium". Expectations were high as the members came from acts such as Napalm Death, Dream Death, and Acid Reign, but Cathedral ultimately proved to be a very different sounding beast compared to the bands the members were previously involved with.

The music on "Forest of Equilibrium" is slow and crushingly heavy doom metal. The inspiration from 70s/80s doom metal acts like Black Sabbath, Pentragram, Candlemass, and Trouble is obvious but on this debut album the band combine the old school doom metal influence with an extreme metal touch. This is not "regular" doom/death by any means, but Lee Dorrian´s deranged, deep, and raw vocal delivery is occasionally close to semi-growling and provides the music with an extreme metal vibe. He puts a demented twist to his deliverey, which makes him sound like one just out of the lunatic asylum. While the pace on the album is predominantly slow, there are some mid-paced and groove laden stoner doom sections featured on the album too. "Soul Sacrifice" is the best example of the more groove laden style, but there are sections here and there featured in other generally slower tracks, which features that vibe too.

The album opens with flute playing (courtesy of guest flutist Helen Acreman) which immediately reminds me of 70s acid folk. Acts like Spirogyra and Comus come to mind. There´s an innocent yet ominous atmosphere to the flute playing, that´s similar to the atmosphere that those mentioned acts were able to create (not necessarily with flute playing though). The flute is also used effectively in the slow and doomy closing track "Reaching Happiness, Touching Pain". I think the folky touch is incorporated most effectively on the album. The instrumentation is also occasionally enhanced by organ. In addition to the ultra heavy rhythm section and the psychadelic tinged semi-growling vocals, the music is very much driven by the twin guitar attack of guitarists Adam Lehan and Gary Jennings. The guitars are distorted and the riffs heavy and doomy but the two guitarists play a lot of harmonies and great melodic and quite hard rocking solos on the album. The occassional use of acoustic guitar is another great feature on the album.

The 7 tracks on the 54:07 minutes long album are all well written and after a few spins they should stand out to most listeners. I´m not gonna point to highlights on "Forest of Equilibrium" as I feel all tracks are essential to the listening experience. It´s one of those albums that are able to take you on a journey and make you forget about real life for a while. A dark, sorrowfilled and deranged trip to a strange fantasy land. All packed in a powerful, dark, and organic sounding production which suits the music perfectly.

I used to enjoy "Forest of Equilibrium" when it came out, but it´s only with time that I´ve been able to really appreciate and understand what a unique album it actually is. The band themselves would move on to a more groove oriented stoner doom sound only a couple of albums down the line, so "Forest of Equilibrium" also stands as quite a unique album in the band´s own discography. While Cathedral can´t deny, and don´t try to hide the influence from the above mentioned acts, I still think their approach to playing slow and doomy metal was something new in 1991 and I ultimately find "Forest of Equilibrium" both innovative and greatly enjoyable. A 5 star (100%) rating is fully deserved.