
The groovy doom psychedelia continues! Having returned to Earache, Cathedral's 3rd full length is surely their most thought-out. It's effectively & heavily powerful. If you faithful doom purists & modern hippy types give it a good listen, you'll find yourselves swingin' them long languished locks to the hip, down-tuned craziness that is the Carnival Bizarre. Cathedral still possesses little commercial appeal, but this album may not bore as many listeners as previous ones might have. More time was spent creating these songs than the Ethereal Mirror. The greater use of imagination & the flow of the individual songs shows. "Utopian Blaster" features a killer guitar solo. The haunted "Night of the Seagulls" sluggish dual guitars are one low & slow & the other high & psycho. "Fangalactic Supergoria" has some almost Zorn-like trumpet & the title song has Dorrian singing wonderfully off kilter to way-out keys. Next to the weighty guitars played half speed half the time, the dark nature derives from the mysterious fairy tale lyrics, which are hinted at on the disc cover. Patchett's trademark art work is even more bizarre & masterful & quite fitting for the music within. Cathedral only seems to progress.