Cathedral

Cathedral is another of the glorious pioneers of the Doom, probably as well known as Candlemass. His influence on the development of the Doom scene is considerable since they are given the paternity of the European Doom Death as well as that of the Stoner Doom. Moving from the Doom Death to the Stoner Doom, the band is still as influential and popular with thousands of fans.
The adventure began in 1989 in Coventry when Lee Dorrian, legendary frontman of the no less cultivable Napalm Death, left his band because he was tired of the speed race that dominated the Metal scene of the time. On the contrary, he wants to move towards something slower to witness his adoration for such formations as Trouble, Pentagram, Black Sabbath, Saint Vitus, The Melvins or Candlemass. He meets Mark Griffiths and very quickly the alchemy is created. Legend has it that the band formed during a very watery evening after a Carcass concert during which Griffiths was, for the anecdote, responsible for projecting gore images. After two demos and a line-up with a changing character, the band began to talk about him, and released his first album, Forest Of Equilibrium , in 1991. This album will be hailed by critics and in the medium term will have a monumental impact on the entire European Doom Metal scene. Indeed, Dorrian's extreme vocals for the time and the very rich influences will inspire a whole new wave of recent Doom groups and the glorious future, Anathema, My Dying Bride and Paradise Lost, among others. After a signature at Columbia Records, the band went on tours (Gods of Grind, The Campaign for Musical Destruction...) and EPs, including Soul Sacrifice, which in 1992 showed the band's evolution towards a new groovy genre, influenced by the Hard Rock of the 70s: the Stoner Doom, or Stoom. But at the release of the record Mark Griffiths announces his departure from the band. Cathedral still records what many consider his best album, The Ethereal Mirror , released in 1993. The band is turning more and more, big label obliges, but ends up getting tired of it and returns home after a dark story of insults between Dorrian and King Diamond, on a joint tour with Mercyful Fate. In 1994, Columbia's refusal to release Statik Majik because of the song Voyage of the Homeless Sapien , an epic track of almost half an hour considered unsoldable by the label, sounded the glare of the relationship between the band and the record company. Freer of his movements, he followed the quality albums where his Stoom reached psychedelism peaks: The Carnival Bizarre (1995), Supernatural Birth Machine (1996) and the huge Caravan Beyond Redemption (1998), which saw very progressive rock incursions mixed with traditional Sabbath riffs. This album comes as a relief after a hiatus of more than two years due to problems with their label. The band released its first live DVD in 2001 under the title Our God Has Landed , followed by two additional albums, Endtime (2001) and The VIIth Coming (2002). The Garden Of Unearthly Delights released in 2005 and appears as the culmination of the Cathedral sound: Stoner Doom, Progressive Rock, Folk... the influences are legions and the album is once again covered with flowers by international critics. Today, the band goes from tour to tour and continues its journey, that of an exemplary formation - but to the phenomenal possibilities in live - that has always been a precursor in its field.