Cathedral (band)
Encyclopedia
Cathedral are a doom metal
band from Coventry, England. The group forged a link between early doom metal and a 1990s extreme metal
aesthetic, making doom slower and heavier. Their debut album, Forest of Equilibrium
, is considered a classic of the genre. They later on changed their doom style, playing it in a more uptempo and groove-oriented fashion. After releasing nine full-length albums and touring extensively for nearly three decades, Cathedral announced in February 2011 that they have decided to call it quits. Before the split, the band expect to release their final album, The Last Spire
, in 2012.
(former singer of grindcore
pioneers Napalm Death
), Mark 'Griff' Griffiths (a Carcass
roadie) and Garry 'Gaz' Jennings (formerly of thrash metal
upstarts Acid Reign
). At first they played very heavy and slow doom metal that was first released through Rise Above Records
, vocalist Lee Dorrian
's indie label, before signing to Earache
and then Columbia
. They were later dropped by Columbia Records in 1994. The band continued with Earache Records until 2000. Then signed to Dream Catcher Records for one LP and a tour. In 2004 Cathedral signed to their current label Nuclear Blast
.
In 1989 Lee Dorrian left his former band Napalm Death mainly because he was getting sick of the punk
scene and did not like the death metal
direction Napalm Death was heading towards. Cathedral was formed after Lee Dorrian and Mark Griffiths met and discussed their love for doom bands like Candlemass
, Dream Death, Pentagram
, Trouble
, and Witchfinder General
.
The only original band members in the current line-up are Lee Dorrian and Garry 'Gaz' Jennings on guitars, although Jennings did once leave the band in their early history, only to rejoin shortly afterwards.
After no news from the band since they toured for The Garden of Unearthly Delights, they played their first show in two years at Damnation Festival 2008, in Leeds. They played a new song and have confirmed dates for 2009 including Hellfest.
On 28 October 2009, MetalUnderground.com revealed that the band were planning to enter the studio the next month to record a new album entitled The Guessing Game, which is set to be released around March/April 2010. Some of the song titles confirmed include "Casket Chasers", "Journeys Into Jade", "La Noche Del Buque Maldito (aka Ghost Ship Of The Blind Dead)" and "Death Of An Anarchist".
On 15 February 2010, Cathedral announced the full details on the new album The Guessing Game, which will be released on 26 March in Europe and 20 April in the U.S.A., via Nuclear Blast Records.
On 6 February 2011, Cathedral announced that they will disband after one more album, entitled The Last Spire
, which they hope to release in 2012. Vocalist Lee Dorrian explained, "It's simply time for us to bow out. Twenty one years is a very long time and it's almost a miracle that we managed to come this far!." Drummer Brian Dixon will continue to perform with The Crunched, a power trio
which he formed in 2010 with Alan Kulke (ex-Caprice) and Roy 'Yozzer' Hughes (formerly of Engine
).
" tag:
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
band from Coventry, England. The group forged a link between early doom metal and a 1990s extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
aesthetic, making doom slower and heavier. Their debut album, Forest of Equilibrium
Forest of Equilibrium
Forest of Equilibrium is the debut album of the British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released in 1991 on Earache Records. It is considered a classic of its genre...
, is considered a classic of the genre. They later on changed their doom style, playing it in a more uptempo and groove-oriented fashion. After releasing nine full-length albums and touring extensively for nearly three decades, Cathedral announced in February 2011 that they have decided to call it quits. Before the split, the band expect to release their final album, The Last Spire
The Last Spire
The Last Spire is an upcoming tenth studio album by the British doom metal band Cathedral, to be released sometime in 2012. This will be their final album before their planned retirement in 2012....
, in 2012.
History
The band was founded in 1989 by Lee DorrianLee Dorrian
Lee Dorrian is a singer from Coventry, England. Originally the editor/publisher of the Cov punk fanzine "Committed Suicide" he then went on to be the singer and lyricist with Napalm Death and recorded one and a half albums with them, namely the second half of Scum and From Enslavement to...
(former singer of grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
pioneers Napalm Death
Napalm Death
Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...
), Mark 'Griff' Griffiths (a Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
roadie) and Garry 'Gaz' Jennings (formerly of thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
upstarts Acid Reign
Acid Reign
-Early career :Acid Reign were formed by Mark Ramsey Wharton , Ian Gangwer , Howard "H" Smith , and future Cathedral member Gary "Gaz" Jennings . Second guitarist Kevin Papworth joined in 1987....
). At first they played very heavy and slow doom metal that was first released through Rise Above Records
Rise Above Records
Rise Above Records is a London, England based independent record label owned by Lee Dorrian . It is named after a Napalm Death song from their EP Mentally Murdered. It was formed in the late 1980s and originally made to sell live releases by Napalm Death and S.O.B., but by 1991 had changed to cater...
, vocalist Lee Dorrian
Lee Dorrian
Lee Dorrian is a singer from Coventry, England. Originally the editor/publisher of the Cov punk fanzine "Committed Suicide" he then went on to be the singer and lyricist with Napalm Death and recorded one and a half albums with them, namely the second half of Scum and From Enslavement to...
's indie label, before signing to Earache
Earache Records
Earache Records is a heavy metal-oriented record label based in Nottingham, UK and New York, USA. It helped to pioneer extreme metal by releasing many of the earliest grindcore and death metal records in the period 1988-1994.-History:...
and then Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. They were later dropped by Columbia Records in 1994. The band continued with Earache Records until 2000. Then signed to Dream Catcher Records for one LP and a tour. In 2004 Cathedral signed to their current label Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
.
In 1989 Lee Dorrian left his former band Napalm Death mainly because he was getting sick of the punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
scene and did not like the death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
direction Napalm Death was heading towards. Cathedral was formed after Lee Dorrian and Mark Griffiths met and discussed their love for doom bands like Candlemass
Candlemass
Candlemass are an influential Swedish doom metal band established in 1984 by Leif Edling , their leader and songwriter. The band is originally from Stockholm. After releasing five full-length albums and touring extensively throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Candlemass disbanded in 1994, but...
, Dream Death, Pentagram
Pentagram (band)
Pentagram is a American heavy metal band from Virginia, most famous as one of the pioneers of doom metal. The band was prolific in the underground scene of the 1970s, producing many demos and rehearsal tapes, but did not release a full-length album until reforming in the early 1980s with an almost...
, Trouble
Trouble (band)
Trouble is an American doom metal band noted as one of the pioneers of their genre, alongside bands such as Candlemass and Saint Vitus. The band created a distinct style taking influences of the British heavy metal bands Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, and psychedelic rock of the 1970s...
, and Witchfinder General
Witchfinder General (band)
Witchfinder General is a doom metal band from Stourbridge, England. They were part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene and have been cited as a major influence on the doom metal genre.-Biography:...
.
The only original band members in the current line-up are Lee Dorrian and Garry 'Gaz' Jennings on guitars, although Jennings did once leave the band in their early history, only to rejoin shortly afterwards.
After no news from the band since they toured for The Garden of Unearthly Delights, they played their first show in two years at Damnation Festival 2008, in Leeds. They played a new song and have confirmed dates for 2009 including Hellfest.
On 28 October 2009, MetalUnderground.com revealed that the band were planning to enter the studio the next month to record a new album entitled The Guessing Game, which is set to be released around March/April 2010. Some of the song titles confirmed include "Casket Chasers", "Journeys Into Jade", "La Noche Del Buque Maldito (aka Ghost Ship Of The Blind Dead)" and "Death Of An Anarchist".
On 15 February 2010, Cathedral announced the full details on the new album The Guessing Game, which will be released on 26 March in Europe and 20 April in the U.S.A., via Nuclear Blast Records.
On 6 February 2011, Cathedral announced that they will disband after one more album, entitled The Last Spire
The Last Spire
The Last Spire is an upcoming tenth studio album by the British doom metal band Cathedral, to be released sometime in 2012. This will be their final album before their planned retirement in 2012....
, which they hope to release in 2012. Vocalist Lee Dorrian explained, "It's simply time for us to bow out. Twenty one years is a very long time and it's almost a miracle that we managed to come this far!." Drummer Brian Dixon will continue to perform with The Crunched, a power trio
Power trio
A power trio is a rock and roll band format where the traditional power trio has a lineup of guitar, bass and drums, leaving out the rhythm guitar or keyboard that are used in other rock music to fill out the sound with chords...
which he formed in 2010 with Alan Kulke (ex-Caprice) and Roy 'Yozzer' Hughes (formerly of Engine
Engine (boogie-rock band)
Engine were a British boogie rock band formed in July 1979 in Birkenhead, near Liverpool, England.They had a three-piece line-up throughout their career, featuring Pete Wade on vocals and guitar, Roy Hughes on bass guitar and backing vocals, and Dave Cornes on drums.-1980s:In the early 1980s,...
).
Style and lyrical themes
Dorrian has talked in the past about his issues with the categorisation done by the music press, especially with the "stoner rockStoner rock
Stoner rock or stoner metal is a subgenre of heavy metal, combining elements of psychedelic rock, blues rock, traditional heavy metal and doom metal. Stoner rock is typically slow-to-mid tempo and features a bass-heavy sound, melodic vocals, and 'retro' production...
" tag:
Current members
- Lee DorrianLee DorrianLee Dorrian is a singer from Coventry, England. Originally the editor/publisher of the Cov punk fanzine "Committed Suicide" he then went on to be the singer and lyricist with Napalm Death and recorded one and a half albums with them, namely the second half of Scum and From Enslavement to...
- Vocals (1989–present) - Garry "Gaz" Jennings - Guitars (1989–present) / Bass (1993–1994) / Keyboards (1994–1996)
- Scott Carlson - Bass (2011–present, also as a live musician in 1995)
- Brian Dixon - Drums (1994–present)
Former members
- Adam LehanAdam LehanAdam Lehan is known for being the guitarist of the doom metal–stoner metal band Cathedral . He played guitar, acoustic guitar and 12 string acoustic guitar, and wrote many songs for the albums Forest of Equilibrium, Soul Sacrifice, Statik Majik and The Ethereal Mirror...
- Guitar (1989–1994) - Mark Griffiths - Bass (1989–1992)
- Leo Smee - Bass (1994–2011)
- Ben Mochrie - Drums (1990)
- Mike Smail - Drums (1991)
- Mark Ramsey Wharton - Drums (1992–1994) / Keyboards (1992)
Live musicians
- Victor Griffin - Guitar (1994)
- Joe HasselvanderJoe HasselvanderJoe Hasselvander is a musician who has been playing professionally since the age of 9 years old in 1966. He was self-taught, playing the violin and later the drums. He has been the drummer of Raven since 1987.-Career:...
- Drums (1994) - Dave Hornyak - Drums (1995)
- Max Edwards - Bass (2003–2004)
Studio albums
- 1991: Forest of EquilibriumForest of EquilibriumForest of Equilibrium is the debut album of the British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released in 1991 on Earache Records. It is considered a classic of its genre...
- 1993: The Ethereal MirrorThe Ethereal MirrorThe Ethereal Mirror is the second full-length album by British doom metal band Cathedral. Released in 1993, this album sees the band experiment a wider scale of sound than on their debut album Forest of Equilibrium. The songs are not as doom-laden and grinding as on the first album...
- 1995: The Carnival BizarreThe Carnival Bizarre-Cathedral:*Lee Dorrian - vocals, percussion*Garry Jennings - guitar, percussion, keyboards, mellotron*Leo Smee - bass, vocals, mellotron*Brian Dixon - drums, percussion, Arabian drum, backing vocals-Additional musicians:...
- 1996: Supernatural Birth MachineSupernatural Birth MachineSupernatural Birth Machine is Cathedral's fourth album released on November 12, 1996 by Earache Records.-Track listing:All songs written by Lee Dorrian and Garry Jennings, except where noted.#Cybertron 71/Internal Countdown - 1:18...
- 1998: Caravan Beyond RedemptionCaravan beyond RedemptionCaravan Beyond Redemption is Cathedral's fifth album. It was released on December 6th, 1998 by Earache Records.-Track listing:# "Voodoo Fire" – 6:11# "The Unnatural World" – 4:04# "Satanikus Robotikus" – 5:01# "Freedom" – 5:05...
- 2001: EndtymeEndtymeEndtyme is the sixth full-length album by British doom metal band Cathedral. Released in 2001, this album is a return to the more dark and gloomy sound found on their first album....
- 2002: The VIIth ComingThe VIIth ComingThe VIIth Coming is the seventh full-length album by British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released in 2002.-Track listing:# "Phoenix Rising" – 3:52# "Resisting the Ghost" – 2:37# "Skullflower" – 5:44...
- 2006: The Garden of Unearthly DelightsThe Garden of Unearthly Delights (album)The Garden of Unearthly Delights is the eighth full-length album by the British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released on January 26, 2006...
- 2010: The Guessing GameThe Guessing GameThe Guessing Game is the ninth full-length album by the British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released on March 26, 2010. It is the first double-album from the band....
- 2012: The Last SpireThe Last SpireThe Last Spire is an upcoming tenth studio album by the British doom metal band Cathedral, to be released sometime in 2012. This will be their final album before their planned retirement in 2012....
EPs
- 1992: Soul Sacrifice
- 1993: Twylight Songs
- 1994: Cosmic RequiemCosmic RequiemCosmic Requiem is an EP by the British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released in 1994 on Earache Records. Tracks 1, 2 and 4 were originally released on the Statik Majik EP.- Track listing :# "Cosmic Funeral" - 7:01# "Hypnos 164" - 5:44...
- 1994: Statik MajikStatik MajikStatik Majik is a 1994 EP album recorded at Rhythm Studios and released by British doom metal band Cathedral under the Earache Records label. It was released on 12" vinyl and CD format in March 1994. The original 12" featured three tracks: "Hypnos 164", "Cosmic Funeral", and "The Voyage of the...
- 1996: Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)
- 2011: A New Ice Age
Best Of/Compilations
- 1992: Gods of Grind
- 1999: Statik Majik / Soul Sacrifice
- 2000: In Memoriam
- 2004: The Serpent's GoldThe Serpent's GoldThe Serpent's Gold is a compilation album by the band Cathedral, released in 2004 on Earache Records. It consists of 2 discs, The Serpent's Treasure and The Serpent's Chest .-Disc 1 - The Serpent's Treasure:...