Maximum Metal Rating Legend

I had pretty much given up on Cathedral up until their last release (ENDTYME). I can't stand it when they're in goofy stoner mode, and it seemed like they would never do anything as satisfying as the "Soul Sacrifice" EP ever again. Thankfully, Cathedral prove me wrong with "VIIth Coming". This album takes all the heavy/doom/gloom of the debut, and the overall catchy songwriting of "Soul Sacrifice" and blends them together about as perfect as Cathedral can get it. "Endtyme" was definitley a breathe of fresh air, but for me, the song-writing just wasn't there as much as it is with "VIIth Coming". It has all the great things I've ever liked about Cathedral and puts them all in a full-length album. No silly hand claps or goofy songs can be found on this release. Nothing but total Celtic Frost/Black Sabbath worship on this opus! And hey, I'm diggin' it. Lets just hope they stay on this path and can keep the good songs coming.
I always look forward to new Cathedral records, with VIIth Coming being no exception. Lets face it, Cathedral is the heaviest band on the planet by far. No one can really touch these grinding doom metal bastards, bringing their working man's metal to the ring and delivering the one-two punch every time. That is what I like about Lee Dorrian and company, they do what they do best, with no regard to what the current scene is doing. Cathedral bring a "heavy as hell" dose of down tuned Sabbath to every release, bashing the listener with riff after riff of doom metal bliss. Crunching tracks like "Dark Robed Avenger" and "Resisting The Ghost" are trademark Cathedral, while other songs such as "Aphrodite's Winter" and "The Empty Mirror" sound like something from the band's experimental album, "Supernatural Birth Machine". I love the grinding sludge of "Skullflower", and the wallop of in your face tracks "Nocturnal Fist" and "Iconoclast". Cathedral make metal to bang your fist to, the kind of metal that makes you want to beat the hell out of everything around you. I find VIIth Coming far better than the band's previous work, Endtyme. To me Endtyme wasn't metal adrenaline, but a slow paced sedative with completely different results than the new album. VIIth Coming has its share of slow pace, often with each track slowing down to a crawl, almost inducing sleep before breaking the silence with a rip-ride onslaught of pure bottom-heavy chaos. Its a shame that Cathedral really doesn't get much respect from the metal community. I'm not sure if its Lee Dorian's vocal style or just the heaviness of the band that wards off metal fans. Whatever it is, Cathedral will always keep moving on. A metal staple, the band will always be around. They will keep right on "rolling, controlling, and pushing that heavy load".