CATHEDRAL — The Ethereal Mirror (review)

CATHEDRAL — The Ethereal Mirror album cover Album · 1993 · Stoner Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Time Signature
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Genre: doom metal / stoner metal

It's got doom. It's got gloom. It's got groove. It's got melody. "The Ethereal Mirror" is my favorite Cathedral album. Although they have adopted a more uptempo and less doomy stoner metal style (I don't think stoner metal is really doom metal, so to me, the genre term "stoner doom" is a void [and kinda stupid] one), there are a lot of heavy, doom-ladden riff on this album, such as the mighty opening riff of "Enter the Worms", the intros to "Grim Luxuria", "Jaded Entity", and "Phantasmogoria". All of these tracks succesfully combine doom and groove, and all of the tracks on the album are groovy to some extent. As it happens, my favorite track is the intro track "Violet Vortex" - probably because it combines traditional doomy riff with catchy melodies.

While not the greatest singer in the world, I think Lee Dorrian does a great job on this album. His raw and weird vocal style just fits this sort of groovy and heavy music very well... as do the otherworldly imagery of his lyrics.

Most fans of "real" doom metal will probably prefer Cathedral's debut album to this one, but, if you're into groovy music as well, do yourself a favor and check out this gem.
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UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
The Ethereal Mirror is also my favorite by Cathedral. Great album.

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