CATHEDRAL — The Last Spire (review)

CATHEDRAL — The Last Spire album cover Album · 2013 · Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"The Last Spire" is the 10th full-length studio album by UK doom metal act Cathedral. The album was released through Rise Above Records in April 2013. Cathedral announced in February 2011, that after 21 years together they had come to an end as a group. They did however announce that they would do a farewell tour and release one final studio album before disbanding and that final album is "The Last Spire". It´s not a "lightweight" group going into retirement, but one of the most profilic doom metal acts to ever emerge from the UK scene. They leave a legacy of several doom metal "classics" and a reputation as a powerful and hard working live act.

The music on the album is unmistakably the sound of Cathedral. They always have had a unique take on the doom metal style and are probably one of the most distinct sounding acts on the scene. That is in large part due to the singing style of Lee Dorrian. I guess we can rule out by now that Dorrian will ever be able to hit a clean note, but he sure does possess an odd charm that´s highly unique. Demonic, psychadelic, and demented, are some of the words that are valid when describing his vocal style. Cathedral has at various points in their career experimented with a more hard rocking stoner doom style in addition to their brick heavy doom metal style and also on occasion incorporated psychadelic and even progressive elements to their sound. The music on "The Last Spire" is generally in the brick heavy end of the band´s sound with occasional psychadelic leanings and even a nod towards progressive rock on "An Observation", which features both hammond organ, Mellotron, moog, and other vintage keyboards. A track like "Pallbearer" includes female singing while Autopsy frontman Chris Reifert makes a guest appearance on the sinister sounding "Cathedral of the Damned".

The quality of the songwriting is overall pretty high although there are tracks that drag on a bit too long and some vocal parts that are almost too atonal for comfort. The sound production is grand, distorted and organic. Paired with the tight musicianship and the band´s unique sound, "The Last Spire" certainly comes off as a great final effort by Cathedral. I´m not sure I would say they go out on a high, as they´ve produced some incredible albums very early in their career, that I´ve never felt they´ve been able to top, but we are treated to an adventurous high quality doom metal release and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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