When Cathedral returned to their Doom laden roots last year a lot of people were surprised and generally bemused, the question was why? The answer because they are Cathedral and not afraid to try the unexpected.
The VII Th Coming is a return to their former, former selves, i.e. Caravan Beyond Redemption style but still retains elements of Entyme, everything about this CD smacks of rebirth. Whatever the reasons for Entyme, you cant deny it's good for what it is and it seems to have exorcised a demon or two, the Cover is back to their classic style, featuring a Phoenix rising from the ashes and even the first tracks is called "Phoenix Rising", this is Cathedral at their stoner best.
The track "Resisting The Ghost" has the line "resisting the ghost of a former life form", is this Lee talking about their Doomier past and Endtyme? And just to emphasise the point the track "Skullflower" collapses halfway through into a classic doom laden riff that rivals anything on their last album.
Other stands out tracks include; "Halo of Fire", "Aphrodite's Winter", "The Empty Mirror"! and "Iconoclast ".
This whole CD sees Cathedral rising out of the ashes into something breathtakingly new, reborn, with all the elements of the past fused into one, like the phoenix on the front cover.