reviews / 2010

CATHEDRAL - The Guessing Game

2010 (Nuclear blast)
hard rock
by Vincenzo Gaglioti
7.5

Nona esplorazione in studio dell'amata compagine freak tramite un doppio album dal fascino ancestrale, teso a una genuina e inedita sperimentazione. Affrescato al solito dall'inconfondibile tocco visionario di Dave Patchett, "The Guessing Game" è il cosmo eccentrico in cui Lee Dorrian e Gary Jennings paiono condensare le proprie passioni musicali: dal proverbiale doom delle origini allo stoner che più li ha celebrati, fino a intercalare il dark sound primigenio di Black Widow e Coven a momenti psych-folk rock (Mellow Candle, Pentangle) e a tratteggi progressive d'autore.

Un baccanale denso, bizzarro e coloratissimo, estrema sintesi di quanto le muse ispiratrici del passato hanno potuto spargere a cavallo tra i Sessanta e i Settanta, compresa una "Funeral Of Dreams", in palese odore di Gong. Per i Cathedral si tratta quasi di un riepilogo di carriera, come se il guru di Coventry avesse deliberatamente deciso di ignorare eventuali esigenze di marketing a favore di istanze artistiche più strettamente personali. Un volo magico attraverso i viluppi più eclissati della propria mente per un luminoso tributo al ventennale della propria suggestiva creatura.

Un'opera fuori dal tempo, che – scommettiamo? – sarà riscoperta a dovere negli anni a venire.

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27/07/2010

This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Vincenzo Gaglioti, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition

Tracklist

  1. 1. Immaculate Misconception
  2. 2. Funeral Of Dreams
  3. 3. Painting In The Dark
  4. 4. Death Of An Anarchist
  5. 5. The Guessing Game
  6. 6. Edwige's Eyes
  7. 7. Cats, Incense, Candles And Wine
  8. 8. One Dimensional People
  9. 9. The Casket Chasers
  10. 10. La Noche Del Buque Maldito (Aka Ghost Ship Of The Blind Dead)
  11. 11. The Running Man
  12. 12. Requiem For The Voiceless
  13. 13. Journey Into Jade

CATHEDRAL sul web

Official website

Cathedral su OndaRock

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