CATHEDRAL, CHURCH OF MISERY & THE GATES OF SLUMBER –
LONDON ULU - 29/04/10
Dangerously close to doors, we find out that all the bands have just arrived thanks to delays caused by Irish customs, hence a frantic stage and backline set up was completed in record time and looking rather rushed THE GATES OF SLUMBER start with their cracking heavy metal tunes. The Gates have been over to the UK more times than you can shake a stick at recently; a good thing, I felt they proved themselves masters of their instruments by pulling off a powerful top notch performance, especially evident during ‘Ice Worm’ and ‘Beneath the Eyes of Mars’. Karl Simon beckons the crowd to get involved, a decent response proceeds and after only 4 songs, the Gates are gone again. But a thoroughly professional, powerful heavy metal doom inquisition with a top notch sound considering the circumstances, hats off to the sound guys.
CHURCH OF MISERY pulled off one of the greatest releases in 2009 with ‘Houses of the Unholy’ further displaying their love of serial killers and heavy, oh so heavy rumblings. Tatsu Mikami on bass wears his Rickenbacker tool-of-doom past his knees; I guess he only needs to reach the lower notes! Tom on guitars is riff ministering and playing a show to the crowd but it is the energetic screams and howls of vocalist Yoshiakki, energetic to the max across the stage, making the crowd feel wanted from the opening opus ‘El Padrino (Adolfo de Jesus Constanzo)’ with its space rock sound effects to the end of their crushing set. The motionless crowd were nodding away in appreciation and gleefully gives the feedback the band deserves. I did not catch many song titles, but their Sabbath worship was enough for me. The tone of the PA booming out their riffs was magical.
It’s strange, CATHEDRAL have not toured as much as they did in my youth, so after the 4 or 5 year wait (is it really that long?, expectations are high. Their new intro music plays (‘Immaculate Misconception’) before thundering into the strange new track ‘Funeral of Dreams’ where the crowd certainly “keep the wheel turning”! Admittedly I am not too impressed on first listen with the latest Cathedral opus, but ‘Painting in the Dark’ proves me wrong yet again. Live this works well, Lee Dorrian (vocals) plays along waving his arms and shaking his head in unison with the guitar work of Gary Jennings. In fact, Dorrian’s motions seem as if he is summoning the witches up out of their watery graves. The sing along that continues into the classic single (through Columbia in the states) ‘Ride’. The good live PA sound meant I could hear the band well up on the balcony; this could be a club show or even an arena show, the sound travels so much and works out in both spectrums. There’s a lot of crowd activity below, but then Cathedral have stuck to a more upbeat set list tonight than some of their doom ridden classics. Speaking of classics, it has been 18 years in the waiting (confirmed by Gary on stage) but there’s a rare appearance of ‘Serpent Eve’ in their set list. ‘North Berwick Witch Trials’ has the crowd with their fists in the air, and the crowd chant in unison when required for “the king of England”. During ‘Carnival Bizarre’ some strange creature comes on stage, actually some guy in a suit who does not know what the hell to do when he is on stage, a sea serpent? Who knows, but it shows another live outing for this rare track. ‘Casket Chaser’ completes the main part of the set, what a ride, what a rush! Whilst Cathedral (with the exception of Lee) don’t really connect with the crowd, their music does - thoroughly powerful and precise, and a welcome return to the stage for this wonderful British band.
Paul Maddison
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