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Cathedral > Forest of Equilibrium > Reviews > TheEndIsNigh
Cathedral - Forest of Equilibrium

Godlike - 100%

TheEndIsNigh, August 27th, 2012

The word above this review accurately describes Cathedral's notorious 1991 debut album 'Forest of Equilibrium.' This lengthy, snail-paced, dirt swathed, monolithic masterpiece is a major acheivement in underground metal. It's release sparked this band's amazing two decade career and a second wave of doom metal that was slower, darker, and way more heavier.

Before this, metal in the UK was dominated by death metal, thrash, and the newly created lightspeed style, grindcore. Doom metal was an American movement that had a status of microscopic, with bands like Pentagram (who were celebrating a revival), and Saint Vitus (who were reaching the end of their life cycle). In the UK, doom metal was probably known to about ten people. But, that would all change thanks to this all-out massacre of mind-altering sounds and emotion-affecting lyrics.

At the time of it's release, 'Forest of Equilibrium' was groundbreaking for it's use of slow death-like tempos, down-tuned guitars, and growling vocals, that had slight echoes of death metal. To this day, there have rarely been anything this genius. Sure, there are other classics of the genre, such as Pentagram's 'Be Forewarned,' Winter's 'Into Darkness,' Sleep's 'Sleep's Holy Mountain,' and Saint Vitus's standard setting 'Born Too Late.' But this album was the hand that shot forth from the grave, leading a revolution of second wave bands slower then ever before, helping give birth to sub-genres like funeral doom and death-doom.

The album's folk tendencies shine on the first track with delicate acoustic guitar and some smooth flute. Then, slowly, like the undead rising in the morgue, the riff comes in, slow and sludgy. It's an excellent intro to what the whole album is like. Lee Dorrian's vocals are so fitting to the songs, it's kinda scary. The musicianship is phenomenal for something so slow. Styles like death metal and thrash are based on technicality while the slower bands are based off feeling and emotion. And this release takes advantage of that with fierce precision. Gaz Jennings and Adam Lehan's guitar lines are injected with such pain and yearning that the songs seem to just scream like tortured souls. I honestly can't remember the last time an album did this to it's listeners. And with Mike Smail's excellent drum lines and fills, it all comes together for an experience unlike any other.

Cathedral's debut has only one rival, and that's Black Sabbath's eponymous debut album. Both are slow, heavy, and inspired generations of bands to come forth with their own down-tuned, slow variations on the blueprints Sabbath laid down 42 years ago. Cathedral's take shot it into the stratosphere, taking it to new heights (or depths) and shocking and surprising listeners all over again.