Search - Cathedral :: Ethereal Mirror

Ride into Violet Vortex!!!!!!!!!!

J. H. Infante | Guadalajara, Ja, Mex | 05/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Ethereal Mirror marks the begining of cathedral into experimentation and the mixture of a variety of influences, such as groovy 70s styles , pyscodelic tunes, death and doom metal, and of course Sabbath (Sabbath adjective never is missing with them) because in "forrest of equilibrium" sound can be appreciated as all doom , and the texture of sounds is pretty mouch the same in every track of that debut album, but with "The Ethereal Mirror" this band from Birmingham England entered the "big leagues" of grindcore and doom groups that at the time (mid 90s) catched the eye of record labels interested in the global distribution of the new wave of extreme metal mostly from Earache label catalogue (entombed, carcass, fudge tunnel), so that new perspective inspired Cathedral to improve their sound with the influences before mentioned without compromise their integrity and they did it great! cathedral can be now considered as one of the most interesting bands in Brittish Metal history,



Now, "The Ethereal Mirror" is maybe Cathedrals most "comercial" release therefore is one of their best recorded albums due to "columbia/earache" brief association , this album is like caviar, the more you test it , the more you like it, "ride" , "enter the worms", "midnigth mountain" and the beautifull and acoustic "impresioned in flesh" made of "The Ethereal Mirror" and album that worths every cent.



Note: i get good news about forthcoming cathedral album titled by now "The garden of unearthly deligths" wich is in recording process since last may/8/2005 and schedulled for autumm 2005 release, i cant wait, i dont know about you all

HM











"

Brilliant, misleading to call it doom though

M. B Coleman | 07/14/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If your expecting another Forest of equilibrium here or something like EW's 'Dopethrone', your in the wrong place. This album is a lot more upbeat and more pacy than their previous FOE but its one of my favourite albums nevertheless. Ill admit, Dorrian at first sounds like a proper gimp with that voice, but once its grown on you its a hoot!



The first half of the cd is a lot different to the second. Compare a song like 'Midnight Mountain' (which is impossible to listen to without mouthing the chorus; dont deny it, you all do it) to lets say... 'Phantasmagoria' and you wouldnt believe they are on the same slab of carbon. Is it me, or does it sound like the band are clapping along in the middle of MM? Anyway, 'Enter the worms' has some excellent guitar shredding by Jenkins, which is a treat after listening to his thumping riffs on 'Ride'. He shines throughout the entire album, but then again nothing falls short here in my book. My personal favourite however, has to be 'Jaded Entity.' A 7 and a half minute beast of a track, with one hell of a vocal chorus pumped out by Dorrian. That lengthy instrumental section in the middle is fantastic, and it all builds up to a massive onslaught of 'WE'VE COME TOO FAR' which harrows the hair on my neck without fail.



Anyway, not much point readin the above paragraph if you dont have this cd, so if not, u gotta lay your hands on this. Nah, it aint a doom record as such, but its a riot to listen to even though its content is supposed to be depressing..."

I'm rounding up from 3.5 stars on this

M. B Coleman | London, UK | 12/09/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a really adept, well written rock album.

It's not necessarily 'doom' in the narrow sense of the word, so if you're trying to fill in the gaps of your 'I only like one kind of music' record collection, you'll be disappointed by this.

However, if you like pounding, fun (what a novel concept!), and LOUD riffage, this album will deliver in spades.

You'll also get the misery of funereal tunes like Phantasmagoria, etc, which is all good here, but if you want it really bleak, you'll want to click through and get yourself lost in the 'Forest...'

But I'd rather sink a few beers, take my shirt off and stagger around punching the air to 'Enter the Worms'!"