Cathedral - Anniversary (2011) (Deluxe Edition, 2CD)

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Cathedral - Anniversary (2011) (Deluxe Edition, 2CD)

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Cathedral - Anniversary (2011) (Deluxe Edition, 2CD)

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There is not a lot to say about this except, if you are a Cathedral fan, it is essential, so buy it and if you are not a fan, buy it anyway because it is that good and you will probably never get a compilation of Cathedral tunes of this quality ever again anyway…..and yes it's live! This 2CD package has been released to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the band and you can't complain about not getting your money's worth here. This release gives you 140 minutes plus of very well-recorded Cathedral material recorded live in London on the third of December in 2010.

The first CD titled here as 'Back To The Forest' is the 'Forest of Equilibrium' played live and in full. This album is of course a touchstone album of doom-metal, a classic in every detail that has stood the test of time. I rate it in the top 5 best doom metal releases of all-time and I know many other folks that feel the same. The album sounds just as good live as it does on the studio version recorded some 20 odd years ago with the only exception being Lee Dorrian's voice sounds a little tired in places but apart from that, it is a flawless 50 minutes plus of crushing, slow doom.

Songs like 'Reaching Happiness Touching Pain.' 'Serpent Eve,' 'Ebony Tears,' and 'Funeral Request' still send a chill up the spine and the version of 'Soul Sacrifice' is positively filthy. When you hear this album played live in all its glory, it hits home what a wrong turn the band took by writing and recording the 'The Guessing Game.'

To be honest, I still think that is a good album but it is just NOT a good Cathedral album, it is too proggy, too quirky, and most important lacks the raw doom that made the band well-known in the first place. This live version of the 'Forest Of Equilibrium' is about as close to perfect as you are going to get and lets face it, there is at least three albums, they could have played in full for a live album but it had to be this one. 20 years on, it is still the most important release of Cathedral's career.

CD number two, titled here as 'Bleak Winter' is longer, much, much longer. The disc is around 80 minutes of classic Cathedral and not so classic Cathedral. I could have done without 'Funeral Of Dreams' and I think they could have found a better tune to play than 'Corpsecycle' given their vast catalog of songs but these are small gripes as this disc has a fine selection of Cathedral greats. It also includes the tune that will be the title track for the last ever Cathedral album titled 'The Last Spire' and if the entire album is anything like this one track, it should blow away 'The Guessing Game' but I have been wrong before with such predictions. The rest of the disc is jammed full of favorites; 'Upon Azrael's Wings,' 'Midnight Mountain,' 'Cosmic Funeral,' 'Vampire Sun' and of course 'Hopkins.'

Listening to this highlights the reality that Cathedral will be sorely missed once the split is finalized. They will leave a significant hole in the scene once they are gone. From traditional doom-metal to funeral doom to psychedelia to prog rock to stoner rock to old-school heavy metal, Cathedral has done it all. They always made albums that they wanted to make at any given time and never caved in to the wishes of fans or critics which has always pissed off a lot of people including me at times. 'Anniversary' is a celebration of all the music they have given us and while it hasn't always been perfect, it has always been interesting following their career. The album comes in a beautiful package with the usual artwork from Dave Patchett and I am already putting money away for the vinyl edition which should see the light of day early next year. For Cathedral fans; this is worth every dime, for everybody else - it is a great document for one of the most important bands in doom/stoner-metal history…

~ 9.5/10 by doommantia.com.com

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Cathedral - Anniversary (2011) (Deluxe Edition, 2CD)

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Cathedral - Anniversary (2011) (Deluxe Edition, 2CD)

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