Genre: Doom Metal
Label Number: SPT-15144-2
© 2002 Dream Catcher
AllMusic Review by Brian O'Neill
© 2002 Dream Catcher
AllMusic Review by Brian O'Neill
Having been called behind the times for much of its
existence, it comes as no surprise that even after the revivalist
movement of Stonehenge rockers came and went faster than you can say
Man's Ruin, Cathedral
neither achieved a commercial breakthrough, nor did they decide to call
it a day. The former is an unsurprising bit of a shame; the latter is a
blessing, since The VIIth Coming
is as good a record the band has ever made, one that lacks the filler
of many of the band's releases, even if it also is devoid of a signature
track that stands out as a keeper. Lee Dorrian
has all but abandoned his trademark menacing growl, leaving in its
place a less-distinctive but much easier-on-the-ear singing voice that
doesn't need to be buried in the mix as on the band's previous releases,
and isn't. The musical output has a more subtle charge; sure, the Black Sabbath
is still there, but the keyboards layered underneath the riff of "The
Empty Mirror" and in the foreground of "Nocturnal Fist" seem a lot
closer to Uriah Heep, and there are nods to more modern influences as well, such as on "Iconoclast," which sounds like slowed-down, grunged-out Pantera.
tags: cathedral, the viith coming, the VIIth coming, 2002, flac,
