Cathedral - Caravan Beyond Redemption

Well, having seen them, I decided it was about time I gave an album a listen. So I did, with this the latest album. And it’s good. But it’s long, a bit too long at times for me in one sitting. Or maybe it’s just that there’s some weaker moments on here. Weaker in comparison with say opener Voodoo Fire, which starts off as you’d kind of expect for this particular genre, and then, half way through, goes off the wall and features da bongos. A nice touch, which breaks things up, but isn’t really repeated elsewhere.Captain Clegg sees a nice guitar solo, nice and melodic, with The Caravan throwing in the obligatory acoustic song of which Sabbath themselves were often guilty. Not that it's bad mind you. It kinda provides a nice interlude between the two halves of the album. And when you think it's all heavy, the groove of Kaleidescope of Desire kicks in, laid back sort of thing. Nice. Cool riff. Heavy Load is the Sabbath Metallica hybrid, switching from a very Iommi like type of riff to a chug that could be twisted to fit MoP, and The Omega Man has a great middle instrumental section, built around a simple riff that just builds and builds. Classic.

Available on Earache Records.