Normally I'm not a big fan of EPs, as I feel they aren't worth the money in most cases. However, with Cathedral it is a different story, all of their EPs have something different to offer. This one is no different, with the faster version of the song Soul Sacrfice, the band foreshadows their new direction, a bit faster doom metal with plenty of groove. Autumn Twilight is similar and its video kind of shows a stoner approach by the band. Of course later on these effects would be fully developed by the band. Frozen Rapture is a slower and heavier track, while the closing song Golden Blood is again a bit groovier. 24 minutes, but all worth it.
In the end, this EP is highly recommended for Cathedral fans, and for fans of Doom/Stoner metal. - yeentrancemperium
It’s twilight in the woods. The fading light brings shadows, and with them eerie shapes seem to emerge out of the foliage itself. Indistinct but definitely present are the obscure denizens of the wood who gather joylessly to celebrate arcane pagan rites of fornication and delirium. After six separate ceremonies pass, the light of a new day begins to illuminate the heavens. And in its glare, the specters recede solemnly to their daytime hibernation, only to slither forth again when the moon arrives to oversee their pagan reveries.
That is the mood of Cathedral’s debut album as heard through my view, and a more somber and beaten sounding release had simply never been crafted in metal upon its release. Listeners familiar with Lee Dorrian’s vocal work with Napalm Death were perhaps horrified to hear his signature growl compressed to a creepy bellow, and the hyper-speed grind replaced by slow-motion doom of the most severe order. Credit is also due guitarist Gary Jennings, whose worship of all rock things obscure informs the riffs and lines that pour off his fingers. Song wise “Commiserating the Celebration” is the monster here, 11 minutes of SLOW unfolding dour feeling. An acoustic intro gives slight respite, but after that, it’s a slow march to melancholy. In the album’s original configuration there were NO up-tempo cuts, just six rituals of which “Equilibrium” and “Ebony Tears” are perhaps the standouts.
The sound is all midrange and quavering bottom end, with no bright spots of treble to offer a glimmer of sonic hope – Cathedral would go on to pen many more essays on the subject of doom and elder metal worship – but this starting point will always pack a dreadful power that stands alone. Seriously. Most doom sounds like comedy when put up against this. - brocashelm
The new, third full-length TKDE album. Great as always. Highly recommended!
Following up last year's Burning Off Impurities and their recent Take Refuge In Clean Living EP, Grails return with their darkest, heaviest record yet. Written and recorded over the last 18 months, Doomsdayer's Holiday delivers on the promises made by their previous albums, taking equal pride in smoky psychedelics and mountain-ascending riffs. With Faust, Earth and Sunn O))) collaborators acting as engineers - not to mention drummer Emil Amos having recently become the new other half of Om - Grails' avant-metal leanings are evident as always. But Doomsdayer's Holiday finds their already-broad palette continually expanding with 70s European film noir and cosmic free jazz explorations complimenting the Middle Eastern psychedelic folk-metal the group is already known for. After a wildly prolific three-year streak that saw the band ceaselessly pushing forward, Grails have finally made an album that pushes back. - temporaryresidence.com
1000 IS FULL of heavy guitars, thick bass, superb drumming, and on top of it all, great mid-range vocals, and even one of the best harmonica performances in a hard rock song since Robert Plant. The production quality is great, everything fits into its place PERFECTLY. - dmonzel.com
Coming from Novi Sad, the town in sleepy northern Serbia's province of Vojvodina, TONA started playing loud in summer 2005. Right from the start, this 5-piece aimed at creating versatile and original sound, combining the best of rock, metal and punk music of the last decades.
Anything that can be combined into a powerful sonic blast is put into the band's cauldron and cast into a solid piece of rock, making the unique sound of TONA. - myspace
