That’s right, people: this ain’t exactly the Cathedral doom you’ve come to know and love. It’s a totally different three-headed beast… and that does not mean that it’s Cerberus guarding the gates of hell once imagined by Messrs. Butler, Iommi, Osbourne, and Ward. Nope… this is a ground glass-spiked cup of fluorescent Jell-O. And you’ll slurp it down and have no freakin’ idea how to categorize this experience. It’s absolutely metal, and it’s not metal at all; it’s early ‘80s new wave-tinged rock, and it’s a million miles from that; it’s late ‘60s psychedelia, and it’s brand new and very modern. No wonder Lee Dorrian and his crew get sick of being labeled “eccentric” or “unpredictable.” Who can blame them: they’re eccentric and unpredictable.

I have to admit to not having a lot of experience with the Cathedral catalogue prior to spinning this recent—and wonderful, truly great—album. So, I found myself wondering about the Cathedral manifesto… and therein, I found the band so ready and willing to anticipate and answer a new listener’s questions. The album’s final track is both a musical history of the band (were they expecting new listeners, or what?) and then—after the requisite “it’s really the end of the disc, people” silence-as-fakeout—Dorrian’s short spoken word explanation of the album’s art work, the band’s raison d’etre, and even the speaker’s pronouncement on his own mortality. On first listen it might seem ham-handed, but it really seems consistent with the band’s approach to its music: open, honest, and driven by their convictions.

So, here’s the skinny: if you like things even vaguely doom flavored, this is for you. If, on the other hand, you prefer your metal uncategorizable (a real word?), then this is for you. But, really, if you’d prefer that your metal is true to the roots of the doom genre, then so much of this is for you.

No matter how you slice it, this is for you. It’s one of the best, most musical metal albums I’ve ever heard—period, no genre crap bogging down that judgment.