About Cathedral

There is more than one artist with this name. 1) Doom metal band from Coventry, England. The group was formed in 1989 by Lee Dorrian (formerly vocalist of Napalm Death), Mark 'Griff' Griffiths (a Carcass roadie) and Gary 'Gaz' Jennings (previously a member of UK thrashers Acid Reign). The band forged a link between early doom metal and a 1990s extreme metal aesthetic, making doom slower and heavier. Their debut album, Forest of Equilibrium, is considered a classic of the genre, though the band would later add psychedelic and progressive rock influences and play in a more uptempo and groove-oriented fashion. In 1989 Lee Dorrian left his former band Napalm Death mainly because he was getting sick of the punk scene and did not like the death metal direction Napalm Death was heading towards. Cathedral was formed after Lee Dorrian and Mark Griffiths met and discussed their love for doom bands like Candlemass, Dream Death, Pentagram, Trouble, and Witchfinder General. The only original band members in the current line-up are Lee Dorrian and Garry 'Gaz' Jennings on guitars, although Jennings did once leave the band in their early history, only to rejoin shortly afterwards. After no news from the band since they toured for The Garden of Unearthly Delights, they played their first show in two years at Damnation Festival 2008, in Leeds. They played a new song and have confirmed dates for 2009 including Hellfest. The band began to wind down their live performances in 2012. Shortly after, it was announced they would be splitting up after the release of "The Last Spire" (2013). 2) An American progressive rock band, whose 1978 album, "Stained Glass Stories," was later released on CD by Syn-phonic in 1991. Cathedral's sound is strongly reminiscent of Yes's Relayer era, with many qualities of Gentle Giant. They are undoubtedly a major influence for the early 90's prog rock band Anglagard. The band released a follow-up album in 2007 titled, "The Bridge". 3) A Spanish group of the 90's. It was founded by the ex-keyboardist of "Medina Azahara", Pablo Rabadán. The principal members are: Pablo Rabadán with the acoustic piano and the synthesizers, Manuel Varona at the vocal and electric guitar, Pablo Jiménez at the electric bass and Gérman Castro with the drums. They recorded only one disc of really good quality, its name is "Vendidos al Sol" (1996). The band plays a mixture of classic hard rock and a little of progressive and symphonic sound pure with Pablo's keyboards. 4) A progressive rock band from Washington DC in the early 1990s, with the albums Kingdom of Ends, and There in the Shadows. Keyboardist Todd Braverman continued to explore progressive music with the band Ad Infinitum.