I'm a huge fan of everything they released from the In Memorium EP to The Carnival Bizarre and the accompanying Hopkins (The Withcfinder General) EP, but I've been put off by reviews that say the stoner elements really took over on the subsequent albums. Not much into stoner rock/metal, so I never checked those albums. Now, I know that The Carnival Bizarre already has a lot of stoner rock/metal in it, but not so much that I cannot enjoy it. Also, I'm aware that Endtyme is considered a comeback of sorts and that their last few albums are generally held in high regard.

I've read the M-A reviews, but I would like to start a discussion about Cathedral here, so I'd like to hear what the forumites think of these albums.

I'm actually a huge fan of that Stoner Metal/Rock thing, so I don't entirely mind that direction they took. They released some bad songs now and then, but I feel their discography after TCB is overall solid.

I haven't listened to everything post-Carnival, but I really like The Garden Of Unearthly Delights and The Guessing Game and am looking forward to The Last Spire. Of course, I'm also a stoner metal fan.

If you like Carnival, you should probably also enjoy Caravan Beyond Redemption. I more or less worship this band, and the only two records I don't care that much for are 7th Coming and Supernatural Birth Machine. Guessing Game is a summation of their career and it feels odd that they're doing another album. Not that I'm complaining

I really liked Endtyme, because it feels to me like it's the darkest album they put out. The tone is very stonerish but the riffs are all really slow, gloomy, and repetitive. Although as a disclaimer I haven't heard a whole lot of their other stuff.

The Garden of Unearthly delights is a great fucking album! The guessing game was decent, as was the 7th coming and endtyme. Nothing beat the first two albums and the Soul Sarcrifice EP. I hope the Last Spire goes back to that sound.

Samples I've heard from Garden of Unearthly Delights sound very Celtic Frost influenced. I was thinking about ordering it at one point, but the tracks I've heard do kind of seem like they drag on. Thoughts?

I get the feeling that it'll have traces of that sound. I distinctly remember Lee Dorrian mentioning that Cathedral had recorded an entire album's worth of songs in the vein of Forest Of Equilibrium around the same they did The Guessing Game and that Requiem For The Voiceless was the song they pulled from it. Don't know if they'd revisit it completely but it does make me wonder.

I think Cathedral's post-CB output ranges from good to excellent. The VIIth Coming seems to be labeled their worst or one of their worst, but I enjoy it a lot; Skullflower, Iconoclast, Halo of Fire are all excellent. The stoner influences begin to merge into the music past Carnival Bizarre, but at the same time Cathedral never drops the edge that makes them Cathedral, if that makes sense. All their albums are at least listenable.

I would basically agree, except the one thing that keeps me from enjoying newer Cathedral much, even The Guessing Game is Lee's voice. i'm sorry to say this as I rather enjoy his idiosyncratic approach sometimes, but he really just talks his way through one of the Guessing Game refrains in a slightly singsongy voice, and his attempts to sound more abrasive are no longer very pleasant to listen to. I really thought he was good, up to Carnival and maybe even on the following couple of albums.

I disagree. The songs are paced well and the longer tunes can justify their lengths. It's also an angrier record compared to some of their other stuff. Great CD. I'm thinking of writing a decent review for it because, like most post-Carnival Cathedral, it isn't discussed that much.

Agreed. I was a big fan of Cathedral through Carnival. Afterwards they kinda lost me until Garden, which I found to be a pleasing return to form.

I'm almost the opposite I dislike early Cathedral and love later Cathedral. Lee's voice definitely changed. I despise the Soul Sacrifice EP cause of his vocals.

Sounds good to me. I just sent in for it. Still $42.00 worth of Amazon.com gift card bucks to splurge with.

I've only got 'The carnival bizarre' and 'The garden of unearthly delights'; I love the first but hate the second. 'Garden' really does my head in with all the weird bits and strange effects, much prefer the more metallic approach of 'Carnival'. I suppose I should check out 'Forest of equilibrium', right?

The first Cathedral album I listened to was the The VIIth Coming, which probably puts me in an odd place compared to the norm. For quite some time I preferred it to Forest of Equilibrium (the second Cathedral album I bought), just for the crunchy, groovy rocking feel it had. The majority of the Cathedral albums I've listened to properly are still from the later period, although having listened to The Ethereal Mirror early today, I can safely say I enjoyed it a lot.

I'd very much consider the bands later material worth investigating - there are some real thundering, stampeding stonerific tracks on many of the albums. I find The Guessing Game to be particularly memorable and at times overtly catchy.

I'm currently working both forwards and back chronologically with the band, eventually to meet in the middle.

I got the majority of post-Carnival Cathedral records just because I went to Cathedral's final show in England so I wanted to prepare myself as much as possible. I'm another one that has to recommend The Garden of Unearthly Delights. Has quite a different tone to the rest of the albums they've done and the track The Garden is something you should never miss out on.

Perhaps I should go back and listen to 'Garden' again then... I'll do so tonight

I like this period in time for Cathedral. My favorite records being Caravan Beyond Redemption and Endtyme. CBR just because it was the first Cathedral album I had ever heard and Endtyme because of how heavy it sounds. I'd say that album goes on the verge of Electric Wizard styled heaviness. The VIIIth Coming isn't bad either, definitely more of a return to form, but it still has enough good songs for me to say that I can't hate on it.

As far as the worst album in this period, I would say Supernatural Birth Machine holds that title. Not sure what it is but never really could get into it. I guess to me it just sounds like generic stoner metal.

the first album i owned was their double live 'anniversary' cd, it must have a lot of new stuff on it? [apart from the entire forest album played live!]
until i had bought this all i'd heard was forest [a long time ago] which i didn't like because his voice had that 'warble' effect/sound, and my death by manipulation tape which i really like

now i have their last 4 albums and carnival and love them, the older stuff hasn't quite grabbed me, probably because i haven’t heard any for a while
in short: love the new stuff, need to hear more old stuff again to refresh my memory, and create some new memories