I figured I would try a first time song by song review for this album. Here goes.

Dearth A.D. 2005
The intro to the album, it sounds reminiscent of the tape that Otis plays at the end of House of 1000 Corpses. If you haven't seen that flick, it basically sounds like a record played backwards with a demonic voice on top of it.

Tree Of Life And Death
After a distorted beginning, the song introduces you to its heavy-ass groove. Lee Dorian's vocals can be compared to those of The Ethereal Mirror. They are actually similar to Tom Araya's of Slayer, almost a spoken style. There's a very doom middle section, with stoner-rock/Sabbath-style vocals. More mainstream-oriented so far, like The Ethereal Mirror, but not as one dimensional as, say, The Carnival Bizarre. Heavy as hell. Rock this shit.

North Berwick Witch Trials
The track starts with an Iron Maiden-like riff, then shifts in a more stoner rock direction. The second half of sounds as if Tony Iommi could be playing guitar.

Upon Azrael's Wings
This song sounds like Cathedral, which isn't at all bad, but it’s all over the place at times. It doesn't ever give you a chance to get into it. Nothing very interesting here for me.

Corpsecycle
What the hell is this song title? Anyway, it features an almost happy riff. What's that you say? Happy? Cathedral? Yeah, and it almost seems like the band is having fun with this song. You'll hear what I mean.

Fields Of Zagara
The Fields of who? Very cool acoustic piece, with a violin even joining in. Very "folk metal," and apparently there is some sort of medieval battle being waged in the background.

Oro the Manslayer
Sorry, but that is one of the gayest song titles I've ever heard. It sounds like gay porn, for Christ's sake. The song, though, is pretty damn good, very Sabbath like and clocking in at more than seven minutes. The bulk of it is instrumental, giving the band a chance to shine.

Beneath a Funeral Sun
Wow. This song is something special. It has everything to love about Cathedral and more: slow, evil, headbanging Sabbath groove, killer vox, samples and a children's choir singing the chorus parts. This song needs to be heard and gets my vote for a single, if they decide to release one. I wonder why such a kick-ass track is buried so far into the record. Best one on the album by far.

The Garden
Gothic female vocals and nice acoustic work to start, then a riff frenzy takes place—classic Cathedral. The song clocks in at some 20 minutes, alternates back and forth between chugging riffs, to more female vox and spoken word, and interesting little instrumental pieces. There's a lot to take in on this track. I did my best to stay with it, but when you get past 10 minutes in length, it's hard to hold the attention of many listeners.

Proga-Europa
This is pointless. Why do bands still have these hidden tracks on albums? This is only about a minute long and is basically nothing.

Overall, this is a decent effort from Cathedral. It’s not quite what I expected and that's a good thing. The band returns more to The Ethereal Mirror sound at times and shows they are willing to experiment. I'd recommend this to any listener who has a craving for some riff-swelling Sabbath-esque doom.