Guessing Game - Limited Edition

It's been a fairly long wait between albums for Cathedral, the last one, 2005's The Garden of Uneathly Delights, had ecstatic high points and a few misfires, as is normal with Cathedral albums, but was generally a pretty strong offering. Arriving five years later, The Guessing Game could well be the band's most adventurous album to date. It is certianly epic.

The songs on this album are sprinkled with musical colour, establishing a progressive and psychedelic kaleidescope of desirable sound. Each of the two CDs that the music is spread across opens with an instrumental, the first of which leads into the epic Funeral of Dreams. This is a truly outstanding track, lasting around 8 minutes and it never gets boring. Other standouts on CD1 are the very pleasant instrumental title track and the funky, retro Cats, Insence, Candles and Wine. The second disc disc is not quite up to the standards of the first, but the album is a grower and there is much to discover on repeated listens. There are, of course, a few of Cathedral's trademark lumbering funeral march tunes to offset the flourishes of light.

The Guessing Game is another strong album from Cathedral and fans will be sure to lap it up but it could have perhaps been better in some regards. Some tracks are let down by what seem to be poorly thought out vocal melodies and repetetive lyricism. This albums lacks one of the rollicking, catchy as hell, heavy metal romps that Cathedral do so well and the couple of tracks that seem to be heading in that direction become derailed when the chorus arrives. I'm thinking of Painting in the Dark and Casket Chasers here, for example. As for the lyrics, constant references to "society" and "reality" become a tad tiring and I would prefer that Mr. Dorrian climb down from his soapbox more often than he does here. The vocalist does seem to have a proverbial bee in his bonnet with regards to his perception of the general public, constantly accusing us of existing in some kind of living death. This from someone who is usually a fan of the singer's insane ramblings about "skeletal hands" and all that. If I'm not mistaken there is a refernce to a skeletal something or other in The Guessing Game, which, needless to say, is a highlight.

Edit: It is a spectral sea, not a skeletal item.

Really, what an event!!! This album of the band seems to become their best work. I've been fan of Cathedral since "Forest...". "Ethereal mirror" has been the coolest one in the style up to now. But "The guessing game" overspat everything. Frankly speaking, time has changed either, so for the early 90-ies "Mirror" was a peak, in the latest decade the game is perfect. On the album you can feel fragrance of the 70-ies in sort of Jetro Tull to Led Zeppenin, the queer sound of techno-metal of Voivod style to speed metal of the late 80-ies - early 90-ies, and of course their own heavy disco mushed through blacksabbathdoors stoner rock + doom. Best choice for any metal fan! Highly recommended!

If you're a fan of Cathedral, or Doom, or even just rock or metal in general, then do yourself a big favour and pick this up!
I've been a fan since the superb "Etheral Mirror", and this album is (in my humble opinion anyway) Cathedral's best release to date, even bettering the excellent "Garden of Unearthly Delights". Over 2 CDs, far from being overblown, it manages to take you on a psychodelic doom-ride through every aspect of what makes Cathedral great, while throwing in a few curveballs too. The album never becomes boring, and always keeps the listeners' interest, with a wide variety in the tracks ranging from folky bits, to almost thrashy bits to classic funeral doomy bits. A Metal classic, and an album that the band should be very proud of! Cheers Cathedral!

Favourite tracks include ALL OF THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I liked it...