Review Summary: Dark oceans we cry, writhing in the misery
Cathedral was found in 1989 by former Napalm Death vocalist Lee Dorrian as well as Carcass roadie and bassist Mark Griffiths and Garry Jennings, guitarist of the thrash metal band Acid Reign. Hence, it must be very surprising that their debut album is one of the slowest, heaviest and most depressing doom metal albums.
While "Forest of Equilibrium" has many elements similar to death-doom, such as sorrowful melodies overlapped by doomish guitars, a smoother guitar tone and low (albeit in here, not necessarly) growled vocals, high chances are that this is the heaviest doom metal album that doesn’t classify into any particular subgenre.
For 54 minutes (most tracks here clock at 7 minutes), Cathedral offer as a musical journey through darkness, depression and sorrow. While "Picture of Beauty and Innocence" starts off with a rather jaunty acoustic guitar overlapped by some interesting flute lines, giving the beginning of this album a medieval feeling to it. However, soon doom overtakes. "Comiserating the Celebration" begins with some the most amazing sounding guitars. On "Forest of Equilibrium" they are tuned very low, nonetheless have a very interesting, thick, but smooth tone. From start to end, the guitar work here is crushingly sludgy and slow, at times the band speeds up ("Soul Sacrifice") and often throws in very Katatonia styled death-doom melodies. Soloing is often very bluesy (the solos could sound equally good on classic doom records by bands like Pentagram, Saint Vitus or Witchfinder General), and while at first it might not seem perfectly fitting for this album’s sound it nicely balances the massively depressive sound of this album.
Another piece of originality are Lee Dorian’s vocals. His vocals in here sound like moans coming from a dying whale, and while that might not seem to be a complement, it’s noteworthy that "Forest of Equilibrium" wouldn’t be as devastatingly heavy as it is with his low, grunty vocals. The lyrical work in here is also a highlight. Dorrian shared lyrical duties with bassist Mark Griffiths, who’s lyrics touch more on the themes of occultism and mythology, while Dorrian’s on existence, pain or love. Both musicians have written some of the most poetic, imaginative, but unfortunately-underrated lyrics in metal.
Similarly to most doom albums, the atmosphere in here is the key to what makes this album so fantastic. While listening to this album you sometimes feel like being lost in a dark English forest during the middle ages. It’s dark, gloomy and like mentioned before-somewhat medieval.
The first two tracks ( the 10 minute long "Comiserating the Celebration" and "Ebony Tears") hit the listener hard with Cathedral’s crushing doom metal sound and "Serpent Eve" pushes the boundaries of heaviness with its unsettling, maniacal ending. Cathedral even things out with the short (clocking at less than 3 minutes), but groovy and catchy "Soul Sacrafice", which sounds a little like a combination of Celtic Frost and Black Sabbath. However, the last three track are, again, as eerie, gloomy and dark as "Serpent Eve", whether it’s "A Funeral Request"-it’s fast paced ending and perplexing sounding acoustics or "Equilibrium’s" disturbing guitar melodies and solo. Finally the 9 minute long "Reaching Happiness, Touching Pain", which begins with doom riffs overlapped by a flute (works fantastically), only to become the most disturbing track thanks to frightening acoustics and Lee Dorrian’s ghoulish, obsessed sounding vocals.
Lee Dorrian allegedly once said that this album listened all the way through will make you want to commit suicide. While it may be an obvious exaggeration, this is still a good summary of what "Forest of Equilibrium" is. With massive, dark and sludgy riffs, somber melodies, poetic lyrics and low, moaned vocals Cathedral create an extremely heavy, bleak and one-off masterpiece.
A must listen for any doom metal fan.
