Cathedral - The Guessing Game

Finally after five years, Cathedral are set to release officially their new album "The Guessing Game" on Nuclear Blast Records. Being one of my favorite all time bands, the wait for this one has been extremely difficult but finally i have a copy here to share my thoughts on. The first thing is this is a 2CD set, not a single that was originally posted on various websites. Its a little odd that decided to take this route as the album would have fitting nicely onto a single disc if they have had removed a couple of time-wasting moments that this epic album has but its a minor complaint as this is classic Cathedral. How it stands up against the other Cathedral output will come down to personal taste and nothing more but here is my take on it. The album features more of the great artwork of long-time collaborator Dave Patchett so you know this is Cathedral right from the get go. The Guessing Game sees the band in familiar territory but with a few surprise moments thrown in there that add to their already eccentric musical approach. The first real track after the intro is "Funeral of Dreams" and it has all the elements that makes this band tick. Bruising Stoner meets Psychedelic Doom sections, mellotrons, strange Progressive Rock time changes and Lee Dorrian’s distinctive vocals which sound better on this album than ever before. Where most Cathedral albums kick off with a real heavy track, "Funeral Of Dreams" while being heavy sees the mood in a very 70's occult rock vibe much like 70's bands like Black Widow. It is a strong way to open the album but things get cranked up a notch for the next track "Painting in the Dark" which is more straight ahead rocking much like songs from "The Carnival Bizarre" era of the band. "Death Of An Anarchist" brings in a much slower groove to the Doom table, more mellotron is featured and shows more of the band's appreciation for 70's heavy prog music. Next up in the title track "The Guessing Game", it is a instrumental featuring even more mellotron and although it is a great piece of music, it also seems to be oddly placed in the running order of the album. Next is pure classic Cathedral, "Edwige’s Eyes" is the most Sabbathian track on the album and also one of the catchiest tunes on The Guessing Game. Its a stomping bruiser of a track with a riff that wouldn't have sounded out of place on any of Sabbath's mid 70's albums. It also has a infectious hook and its just as good as any Cathedral song written to date, solid Stoner Doom for all of its 7 minutes and a major highlight. Disc one ends with "Cats, Incense, Candles & Wine" and this shows Cathedral at their quirky best, heavy but full of progy influences. The band has been one to take the occasional musical risk and this song is another one of those but with Lee Dorrian nailing the vocals with such precision and Gaz Jennings playing at what sounds like his musical peak, it all works. This finishes up disc one which may not be as instantly satisfying as the material on "The Garden Of Unearthly Delights" but after a few spins, it quickly cements itself in your braincells and therefore begs for another spin. Disc Two kicks off with "One Dimensional People" where drummer Brian Dixon steals everybody's thunder with a massive sound but this turns out to be one of those time wasting tracks i mentioned earlier and didn't leave a lasting impression on me. The following track however is magic, "Casket Chasers" is a more up-tempo burner that by Cathedral standards is pretty straight-forward but it rocks totally. "La Noche Del Buque Maldito (aka Ghost Ship Of The Blind Dead" is next up. It begins very weird and Psychedelic before pushing on the gas pedal to what is one of the most up-beat tracks the band has ever produced. A good track but one of the surprises i mentioned earlier, it comes at you without warning but once you get over the initial shock, it is a pretty cool tune. That leads into "The Running Man" with more Progressive indulgences mixed with raw Stoner Doom riffing and a great vocal performance from Dorrian. That takes you to the most Doom track on the album called "Requiem For The Voiceless". Here Dorrian explores a animal-rights theme to the lyrics which is something i don't think they have ever done before. Its a heavy-laden Doom groove that is one of the longest tracks on the album at almost 10 minutes. The length of songs on disc two and the material within give the second disc a more experimental vibe compared to the first which is more straight-forward overall. The final track is interesting and funny at the same time, its called "Journey Into Jade" where Dorrian incorporates the names of previous albums into the lyrics. It is a lyrical account of the bands history set to music and while it would be a cheesy exercise for most bands, Cathedral get away with it leaving you with what is a very enjoyable tune. He also asks the public questions like "Will our vinyl be rare and collectible?". Indeed i guess time will tell on that one Lee!! The overall vibe of "Journey Into Jade" is one of pure fun which is pretty rare for a band of this genre to attempt such a song but once again it works. The album ends with a bonus track but its another filler moment and then after 80 minutes its all over. The production by Warren Riker is a bit cleaner than the last few albums especially in the sound of Jennings which is a little low in the mix at times. The bass and drum sound is great though and Dorrian's vocals are his best to date. Cathedral are still very innovative and still play with a element of freshness that which shows they have no shortage of musical ideas. The album plays out almost like a best of Cathedral album as far sounds and genres are concerned. They cover almost everything the band has done in the past from the Psychedelic Stoner Doom of "Edwige’s Eyes" to the way out "Cats, Incense, Candles and Wine" to total Doom in "Requiem for the Voiceless". Where the band goes from here on is anyone's guess but they have produced a impressive album that was worth waiting 5 years for, i just hope its not another 5 years for the next installment. This rates in third place as my favorite Cathedral album behind the debut and "The Garden Of Unearthly Delights" but it is real close in quality to those two. Its only the overall length of the 2CD set and a couple of filler's that stop the album from being the best thing they have ever done. Cathedral fans will still want to buy the album as soon as possible and with a possible US tour on the horizon, the next year or two could be the most exciting in the bands career. Due for release in the US on April 20th. 9/10

www.myspace.com/cathedral

Cool review! Really looking forward to this one... and even more so now!

Was listening to the album yesterday and it hit me how progressive the album is, not really like Cathedral at all. There is really only 2 songs on the entire 2 discs that sound exactly like the usual Cathedral stuff. I am starting to think, i may have to do a re-write of my review, i also have a feeling that some old Cathedral fans will hate this album. Don't get me wrong, i still love the album but the more i listen the more i feel it could be a wrong turn for the bands career. I just cant see the average Cathedral fan liking this album too much, if you are a prog-rock fan like i am, you will dig it but if you come from a strictly metal background, this album may leave you confused and disappointed.

I just picked it up a few 3 days ago and I'm loving it! Yeah, this album is WAY off the beaten path in regards to the "Cathedral sound" but the thing is....if you listen to all of their discs one after the other, you will find that their sound has really evolved with each album. This just seems like another part of the progression. 2 discs of psychadelic, stoner, doomy goodness.....can you really go wrong?

I gotta check this out!

I just read an interview w/ Lee Dorian in Zero Tolerance mag over lunch and it really reignited my interest in the band...

I loved his quote "I don't really even know what doom metal is these days...it used to be heavy metal played slowly...now its like black metal played slowly..."

Haha!

At 3am this morning i interviewed guitarist Gaz Jennings. Here is the typed version of the interview....
















1. Hello from Seattle, first up
i must say i am a long time fan after first hearing you for the first
time when "Forest of Equilibrium" was released in 91. Like most fans
would be wondering, why was there such a long break between "The Garden
Of Unearthly Delights" and the new album for the band?

The reason
for such a long period of inactivity was due to whether we wanted to
carry on as a band. When we did the garden we seriously considered it to
be our last album. We toured after the albums release but took time out
to see if we wanted to do another record. After a year or so break lee
and myself got together to write and see what kind off stuff i could
come up with and to see if the material was any good so we just took it
from there.

2. Hearing the new album for the first time, my first
impression was the album seems to sum up the band's career by combining
all the sounds and styles the band has ever done into the one album.
Was this just a accident or the plan all along?

I agree. We just
tried to be cathedral and do whatever came to us really and luckily it
turned out good. There's all elements of what we've tried to do
throughout our career.

3. Cathedral has always experimented with
progressive rock elements but this album seems to be more progressive
than any album before it. I know the band has always been big fans of
obscure 70's rock but was there a particular inspiration that pushed the
band in that direction for this album?

Lee and myself were
listening to a lot of euro crime soundtracks so a lot of influence came
from that plus a lot of the cool bands we both dig. There was a lot
more emphasis on more prog and less of the heavy stuff.

4.
Cathedral has become a huge influence on the doom metal scene and people
still rate the first album as a major turning point in the history of
doom metal, how do you feel about this?

I'd like to think that
we've played a part in making doom more popular but then again bands
like Candlemass,Trouble,St Vitus were there before us and are a major
influence on most doom bands that are just starting out. As for our
forest album I'm glad that after 19 years people still dig it.

5.
I read the band had excess material for the recording sessions that led
to the new album. Was it material that has been around for a while or
did you go into the recording with totally brand new ideas in mind?

We
had more material written but a lot of it never got to the rehearsal
stage. The material was out and out doom in the vein of Trouble,
Revelation, Celtic frost, Dream death etc...Hopefully we'll get round to
using this stuff in the future.

6. How do you rate the back
catalog when you hear them now? What do you personally rate as the
high-points of Cathedral's recording output?

Some of the stuff
we've recorded is pretty good and some not so good. Supernatural sounded
good when we were rehearsing the songs but the sound of the album ain't
too good. I really liked caravan when we were rehearsing the songs cos
it was a real band effort with everybody contributing with writing and
arrangements but the material is too much of a mish mash of styles like
freedom and heavy load etc....In saying that heavy load is probably my
favorite song. Fave album is probably the garden. i think some of the
production on the albums haven't been that great, in saying that the
production on carnival ain't brilliant but the album has got a great
vibe and a lot of energy. I enjoyed making that album

7. Picking
songs for your live-set must be a nightmare, how does the band come to a
mutual agreement on what to play?

We don't. ha ha ! Some songs
we have to play live like hopkins but as for picking the set, it's a
nightmare. I always want to play more obscure songs but Brian always
wants to play the more obvious songs, so me and him have debates over
that which can be quite heated but we come to some sort of compromise,
where as Leo will just pick an obscure song we've never played in years
and just shout it out and everybody kinda looks at each other lost for
words.

8. "The Garden Of Unearthly Delights" got some amazing
reviews when it was released, probably the best reviews i personally
have ever read for a Cathedral album . Is that something you thought
about when making the new album and does critical success mean much to
the band?

We never give it much thought really. Of course getting
great reviews is great cos it helps when people read them and it they
read its a good album. We have been quite lucky cos we have never had
any major bad reviews.


9. Is it a challenge keeping the band
sounding fresh after all these years and was there any point in the past
where you thought about splitting up?

Of course it's a challenge
we don't wanna keep doing the same stuff over and over. We have to
challenge ourselves to keep it interesting. As i said in the first
question, we were near to calling it a day after the last album.

10.
Moving away from Cathedral for the time being, i have to ask about your
passion for 70's rock especially the obscure variety. The 70's was a
incredibly fertile time for music, what has happened to music these days
apart from the obvious, computers, internet etc and why was the 70's so
experimental and musical in your opinion compared to today's
mainstream?

Lee and myself just dig music from the seventies.
Simple as that really. More freedom to experiment without commercial
restrictions.

11. To celebrate the release of the new album, The
Guessing Game, you have announced 6 live shows in late April / early May
2010. Taking in England, Scotland and both Southern and Northern
Ireland, it seems like it is going to be one of the all time great doom
tours. Is there anymore news on that ?

Hopefully should be a good
tour cos the two bands who are supporting us are both killer. In fact
along with Hellfueled, The Gates Of Slumber are one of my fave bands at
the moment.

12. On the new album you have no other than Alison
O`Donnell from Mellow Candle singing on "Funeral Of Dreams". How did
that come about and with all due respect to Alison, are these 70's rock
musicians still easy to find these days?

I don't really know how
it came about really. Lee got in touch with her and asked if she'd like
to sing on the album and she agree which is like the coolest thing ever.

13.
I must also make mention of the lyrics to "Journey Into Jade" where the
band celebrate the band in song. They are great lyrics and one of the
many highlights on the album, where and how did you come up with the
concept for the track?

Again Lee came up with the idea which i
thought was a real good idea. I think they sum up whats been before and
if there's any future left for us.????????

14. Cathedral has
always had very visual lyrics that conjure up many different themes and
images and you even have the artwork to match the music with the great
work of Dave Patchett. Has Cathedral ever thought about doing a movie,
say like Pink Floyd's The Wall with the animation and involve some of
that art?

I don't know that one you'd have to ask him yourself
I'm afraid. I very much doubt it.

15. Has the US got any chance
of seeing the band perform in the near future? We are all dying to see
the band live. Personally i haven't seen the band live since 1992 so its
been a long time between drinks.

I think the idea of a tour is
out of the question as three of us all have regular jobs but if the
chance came to play a couple of festivals we'd love to do it.

16.
Thanks for the interview, its been a honor to interview you. Is there
any final words or thoughts for the Cathedral faithful out there?

Cheers
for the interview to all the people who have supported us thank you for
being there throughout the last 20 years stay heavy and be true to what
you believe in and dont follow trends.

Nice...good job.

I guess I'll never get to see Cathedral live...

I saw them way back in 92 but i don't expect to ever see them again by the sound of things.

Again, nice review and interview! I finally got around to picking this one up, and after a few spins I am helplessly hooked.
Really dig the 70's far-out prog vibes.

I don't know if there is such a thing as an average Cathedral fan, but I certainly dig this.

And I am utterly STOKED to see them with the mrs. in Norway at the Hole In the Sky festival later this summer (together with Venom, haha(!)).

This new album is kick ass! I love the weird, Prog vibe...

Ups, almost forgot



Great show! They even brought a guy playing a MOOG and a "Memotron" for the new songs. And the bassist plays an (almost) identical Fender Precision bass as mine (probably more or less the only 2 fender precision basses in the world that has suffered the atrocity of being tuned down to B, lol).