As far as doom metal goes, Cathedral have always been one of my favourites. They were the band that introduced me to the genre in my youth, and therefore have always occupied a soft-spot in my blackened heart. Heading up to London Forum to catch the band's final show was something that will stick with me forever. The disbanded warriors of gloom have a varied and interesting back catalogue ranging from the downright heavy to the downright weird, and The Garden Of Unearthly Delights is about somewhere in the middle of that scale.
Endtyme and The VIIth Coming saw Cathedral's 90s experimental sound stripped right back to the brutal bare bones. Having once against mastered the medium of heavy in lieu of psych, The Garden Of Unearthly Delights sees the band beginning to re-approach their psychedelic tendencies through a far more clarified, less self-indulgent path. Stadium-fillers such as "The North Berwick Witch Trials" and "Corpsecycle" stand in stark comparison to the epic "Oro The Manslayer" or the 27-minute, obscenely progressive lurcher "The Garden".
The stunning cover painting was provided, as almost always, by the incredible Dave Patchett. The classical chaos of Cathedral album sleeves always makes for an interesting staring match as their twisted doom unfolds. Man, I miss this band.
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