Cathedral

Lately, Earache Records has reissued a number of albums from their classic catalogue. Each album not only includes each band’s original studio release, but also comes with a DVD. The latest reoffering of English doom merchant Cathedral, “The Carnival Bizarre” comes with a bonus DVD—“Our God Has Landed.” “The Carnival Bizarre” was Cathedral’s break out album. The album’s songs were of a groovier nature, especially tracks like “Hopkins (Withfinder General)” and ‘Vampire Sun,” yet still maintained the doomed foundation of their earlier material. The song writing became more accessible, pushing the band ever more into Black Sabbath territories. ‘Electric Grave’ definitely bears a title alluding to Black Sabbath, while ‘Utopian Blaster’ even features a guest appearance by none other than Black Sabbath riff alchemist, Tony Iommi.

The second disc includes a DVD of “Our God Has Landed,” which was originally released via VHS in 1999. This DVD is a must for any fan of Cathedral’s early to middle years. It includes promo videos from their first studio album “Forest of Equilibrium” on through the “Supernatural Birth Machine” album. Cathderal’s videos represent well the tone they seek to convey in each song. Whether depicting funeral scenes in ‘Ebony Tears’ or flashing a kaleidoscope of psilocybin-aided color, Cathedral brings the goods with these videos.

The second part of the DVD consists of a concert in 1992, during their European tour with Carcass, Entombed and Confessor, otherwise known as the “Gods of Grind” Tour. The DVD features songs from initial studio albums, “Forest of Equilibrium” and “Soul Sacrifice” albums. The “Forest of Equilibrium” material was much slower, almost of funeral doom quality. The latter album showed the group step up the tempo—a bit of foreshadowing for stonier, psychedelic freak outs like “The Ethereal Mirror” and “Supernatural Birth Machine.” For the more downtrodden material such as the concert’s closers, ‘Frozen Rapture’ and ‘A Funeral Requesting,’ they used grainy film footage and darker lighting, which fits the trudging pace and mournful tone of these tracks.

In addition to the classic live footage, the makers of the DVD conducted backstage interviews with the band. Besides the group playing around with toys or participating in more grown up games like Quarters, Lee Dorian comments on the band’s name and its relation with the group’s music.

Having both the “Our God Has Landed” DVD and the “The Carnival Bizarre” album in one place is sweet. Also, it has been over thirteen years since Cathedral released “The Carnival Bizarre,” so many of their fans may have lost, broken or wore out their original copies. Today’s metal youth who enjoy groups such as High on Fire and The Sword may discover this vintage stoner/doom for the first time.