The Ethereal Mirror

Cathedral's second full-length album in 1993, The Ethereal Mirror, with Gaz playing bass on all the tracks. This release marked the band’s live debut in Japan and the loss of Mike Hickey to Carcass. Quickly replaced by grindcore legend Scott Carlson (ex-Repulsion), Carlson’s role in Cathedral became indisputably important; however, he never had the chance to play on an album. Hints of their lumbering doom sound from Forest of Equilibrium characterize songs such as Phantasmagoria, but for the most part Cathedral picks up the pace and instills a welcome sense of groove into their monolithic guitar riffs. Two songs from the album in particular stand out due to their up-beat tempos: the anthemic opener, Ride, and the metal-disco of Midnight Mountain. These two songs aren't up-tempo in the sense of death metal or grindcore, but they actually owe a lot to late '60s and early '70s hard rock anthems such as Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild and Black Sabbath's Supernaut.