CoC : Cathedral - Hopkins (The Witchfinder General) : Review

Cathedral - _Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)_
(Earache Records, 1996)
by: Adrian Bromley (7 out of 10)

So, Cathedral releases this limited EP, _Hopkins: The Witchfinder General_, a grouping of four newly recorded songs and one of the better Sabbath-laced tracks of their brilliant 1995 release _The Carnival Bizarre_, and at the same time presents their fans with scare tactics... sort of. Starting off with the movie trailer/spoken intro of late, great actor Vincent Price saying "I am Matthew Hopkins, witchfinder...", this 5-song EP kicks off with the title track and then from that point on the album switches gears, dilly dallying between multiple music styles, everything from jazz/funk ("The Devil's Summit"), an 80s rock styled number (the slowly hypnotic "Purple Wonderland") and even a cover of Crazy World of Arthur Brown's psychedelic song "Fire". But don't be alarmed though, Cathedral fans. The record company bio (paraphrased) says this desire by the band to play this music does not suggest this to be the band's musical direction in the future. Experimentation is the name of this game here with Dorrian and his gang of metallic henchmen, and like most albums' material, some things work and some don't (most notably "The Devil's Summit") but the need to branch out sometimes is the best remedy to keep things fresh within a band. Good call Lee.

(article published 9/6/1996)

CHATS
9/14/2005	J Smit	Cathedral: In the Valley of the Shadow of Death

ALBUMS
5/13/2001	A Wee	9.5	Cathedral - Endtyme
1/2/1997	A Bromley	7	Cathedral - Supernatural Birth Machine
10/1/1995	G Filicetti	6	Cathedral - The Carnival Bizarre