Cathedral – Supernatural Birth Machine ...

Cathedral has drifted between Doom/Death, Doom and Stoner Metal for years now with varying degrees of quality. The band themselves dislike this recording considering it too generic for their tastes but it's not all bad. The production is pretty good given the label and the recording date. The guitars are fairly massive and Sabbath influenced. All the bands trademarks are in full swing. There is a certain Hard Rock vibe to riffs, which are only accentuated by Lee's arena rock-esq vocals. This album has the most solos of any Cathedral album to date. There is a major groove that permeates throughout as well. The bass is incredibly complementary and very Sabbathy. The drums are what we've come to expect. No frills 70's style simplicity. The vocals are standard Lee Dorrian. At this point in their career you either love or hate them. This album is perhaps somewhere between Doom and Stoner as it honestly plays both styles off of each other constantly. In saying that, about half of this album is alright and the other half is pretty much filler. (Tracks 1-6 depending on your mood maybe 1-7 are where the action is mostly at.)

This album had a hit with a video in ‘Stained Glass Horizon’. A song that is heavily Sabbath influenced yet surprisingly original. The song that should have been a hit was ‘Cyclops Revolution’. As always, Lee’s strange lyrics only add to the spaced out vibe of this release. There are two different versions of this album: the American (with a band picture on the cover) and the Japanese (with their trademarked stoned out art work and a bonus track.).


The main downside to this album is that it's boring and doesn't go anywhere. Even the songs that qualify as good seem to be missing something. Maybe this is why the band calls this album a miss? According to Lee, the band had been dealing with a major label at this point in their career and said label didn't really know what to do with them (big surprise). This album was more or less thrown together without much thought and it shows. In the end the question you must ask yourself is "Is this worth owning?” As usual, the answer is "yes" if you're a fan of the band or generic stoner/Doom and "no" if you're not one of the aforementioned. This gets a 5.5/10. Not the best but way better than 'The Guessing Game'.

Words: Grimdoom

Cathedral Official Site