在充满厄运感的吉他Riff和70年代末的硬摇滚风格中间混入了一种健康而流行的元素，这使得以前标榜着“Doom Metal”(厄运金属)风格的Cathedral乐队取得了更好的销量。当然，唱片《Forest Of Equilibrium》是乐队在Earache旗下的第一个杰作，充满了滞缓、扭曲的音乐风格，乐队深受Black Sabbath那沉重、悲惨风格的影响。但是，Cathedral乐队从来不会否认他们的流行性，乐队发展了一种完全属于自己的风格，象“Midnight Mountain”中的急速迪斯科金属乐便能证明这一点。Cathedral被拥戴为世界上最好的厄运金属乐队之一，乐队将他们的音乐理念及动机推到了一个更高的层面，他们向70年代的根源摇滚乐表示了极大的推崇及尊敬。 Cathedral成立于1990年，Lee Dorrian(主音,前Napalm Death的乐手)和Mark "Griff"Griffiths(贝司手)，这两位老朋友由于有相同的音乐品味而组建了乐队，与此同时，Garry Jennings(吉他手)、Adam Lehan(吉他手)和Ben Mockrie(鼓手)也加入了乐队。乐队以这样的阵容一直持续到他们极具生命力的一张Demo唱片《In Memorium》，这张Demo一共录了4首歌，其中包括翻唱一首他们狂热信拜的美国乐队Pentagram的一首“All Your Sins ”。而另一首歌“Ebony Tears”被收录于1991年发行的厄运金属经典专辑《Dark Passages》中，以Dorrian自己的公司Rise Above的名义推出的。 接下来，Cathedral乐队与另一著名的厄运金属的传奇乐队St.Vitus、日本的Hardcore英雄式的乐队S.O.B.、英国的恐怖金属乐队Paradise Lost和美国的死亡金属乐队Morbid Angel一起进行了英伦和欧洲的巡演，巡演之后，乐队便签约于Earache唱片公司，并着手于他们的首张专辑的录制。然而此时，Mockrie离开了乐队，Cathedral只得请了一位鼓手来帮忙，他就是前Penance/Dream Death乐队的Mike Smail。最终专辑《Forest Of Equilibrium》于1991年底正式发行，刚一上市就受到了音乐媒体及公众的狂热喜好。这张充满了厄运感的金属专辑立即为乐队赢得了众多的乐迷，尽管仍有许多人惊讶于Dorrian从Hardcore成为Doom Metal的明显变化。事实上是Dorrian一直对更老一些的厄运金属音乐感兴趣，而Cathedral正在按照自己的步伐前进和发展着。 由于补充了一名永久鼓手Mark Ramsey Wharton，从而使乐队呈现一种强劲的发展势头。1992年，Cathedral与Carcass、Entombed和Confessor一起完成了“Gods Of Grind”的欧洲巡演，又与Napalm Death、Carcass和Brutal Truth一起完成了“Campaign For Musical Destruction”的美国巡演，同年年初乐队又发行了一张EP唱片《Soul Sacrifice》。这张唱片对乐队的发展方向作了一个强有力的指示，用改进了的制作技术带出了一首首非常重的歌曲，象“Autumn Twilight”等等。1992年底，乐队与美国的Columbia唱片公司签订了一张唱片合约，并在以色列和德国进行了巡演，但在演出中，贝司手Griff由于个人原因而离开了Cathedral。 接下来，Cathedral完成了第二张专辑《The Ethereal Mirror》，透过这张唱片，乐队又展示了一种放肆无礼的猛攻姿态，使乐队的成绩又达到了一个新的高度。专辑是由Dave Bianco(过去曾与Trouble、Danzig和Mick Jagger等乐队及乐手合作过)在牛津郡的Manor Studios制作完成的。这是一张仅剩存了一点厄运金属意味的专辑。唱片中令人难忘的主题冲突就是Dorrian改变了他原来的唱腔。接着，乐队开始进行繁忙的巡演，与Fight、King Diamond和Mercyful Fate乐队一起进行了美国各州的巡演，与Earache旗下的固定成员Sleep乐队一起参加了欧洲巡演。随着乐队被欧洲的乐评界所接受，乐队的专辑也由原来被英国杂志诋毁得一钱不值而变得被大家所承认。评论界普通认为Cathedral是英国金属乐最后一个伟大的希望，这是继Judas Priest和Iron Maiden之后仅存的一支能获得如此乐迷多年支持的乐队。 Cathedral乐队在新发行的EP唱片《Statik Majik》中将他们的音乐理念搞成混杂一片，包括了一些乐队所录制的极具野心的歌曲，其中“The Voyage Of The Homeless Sapien”一曲竟长达23分钟，它展显了乐队的实验性音乐。然而在与Mercyful Fate举行完美国巡演之后，吉他手Adam Lehan和鼓手Mark Wharton离开了乐队，Lee Dorrian承认他俩在长期繁重的巡演过程中，无论是精神上还是肉体上都变得筋疲力竭、极度疲劳了。乐队为了填补这个空缺，立即召来来Pentagram乐队的吉他手Victor Griffin和鼓手Joe Hasselvander。紧接着，乐队为Black Sabbath的欧洲巡演作暖场演出，他们以极大的舞台演出热情感染了所有的听众，并且让老一代的金属乐迷看到了当代金属乐的风采。 乐队以激猛的姿态进入了1995年，Cathedral又新召了贝司手Leo Smee和鼓手Brian Dixon，便开始制作他们的第三张大碟。最终推出了《The Carnival Bizarre》，唱片将雷霆万钧般的吉他Riff和Lee Dorrian似有神助的嗓音结合在一起，将经典的金属乐与90年代音乐溶为一体，成为一张真正有纪念意义的唱片。专辑命名为《The Carnival Bizarre》，乐队的头面人物Dorrian依旧保持低调，让我们来记住他的话：“来自停尸房的宇宙般广阔的声音。人类注定要灭亡，让人类在死亡的预兆中欢愉。现在只有金属才是真正强大的主人，摧毁或是被灭亡！” 将一种经典而古老的音乐风格溶入乐队的个性之中，Cathedral按自己的想法去完成它，去完美它，这真是绝妙之极！It's universally agreed that the originators of the doom metal genre are Black Sabbath, but there were several bands of the '80s/early '90s who kept the style alive (during Sabbath's "lean years"), such as Saint Vitus, Trouble, Candlemass, and, especially, the U.K.-based Cathedral. When singer Lee Dorrian jumped ship from grindcore godfathers Napalm Death during the late '80s, he sought to form a new outfit that would focus on the plodding sounds of Sabbath, rather than the all-out assault of his former band. As a result, Cathedral was formed in early 1990, with a lineup consisting of Dorrian, guitarists Mark Griffiths and Gary Jennings, plus drummer Andy Baker. Almost immediately, however, the new group experienced some personnel fluctuation (a sign of things to come). Baker was replaced by Ben Mochrie after only several rehearsals, Griffiths switched over to the bass, and a second guitarist was added, Adam Lehan. 1991 saw the release of a self-produced demo, In Memoriam, issued via Dorrian's own label, Rise Above Records (the album would be reissued on CD almost ten years later, with an expanded track listing).Cathedral was signed by renowned U.K. metal label Earache shortly thereafter, resulting in the release of their full-length debut, Forest of Equilibrium, in 1991. With many figuring that grindcore would become the next globally preferred sub-genre of heavy metal, U.S. major labels began signing such outfits as Entombed, Carcass, and Napalm Death. As a result of their ties to the genre, Cathedral signed on with Columbia Records, even though they displayed little resemblance musically to the aforementioned acts. Lineup instability failed to derail Cathedral, as they delivered arguably the finest album of their career, The Ethereal Mirror, in 1993. A year later, Cathedral got to open a European tour for their heroes, Black Sabbath (albeit the Tony Martin-fronted version).By this time, Dorrian and Jennings were the only members left in attendance from their early days, but more importantly, the group was dropped by Columbia after only a single album. The group has persevered nonetheless — returning back to the Earache label, and throughout the remainder of the '90s and early 21st century issued such strong releases as 1995's The Carnival Bizarre, 1996's Supernatural Birth Machine, 1998's Caravan Beyond Redemption, and 2001's Endtyme. 2002 saw Cathedral sign on with Spitfire in time for the release of their seventh full-length overall, The VIIth Coming. Despite all of their ups and downs, Cathedral can be credited for opening the door for other subsequent doom bands, as countless groups (who had obviously studied Dorrian and company) cropped up during the mid-/late '90s: Orange Goblin, Electric Wizard, Spiritual Beggars, and more.