Forest of Equilibrium

Forest of Equilibrium is the debut studio album by British doom metal band Cathedral, released on 14 October 1991 through Earache Records.^[10] It is considered a classic of its genre, doom metal.^[6][11][12] Forest of Equilibrium was notably inducted into Decibel magazine's Hall of Fame in February 2006 being the 12th inductee for the Decibel Hall of Fame.^[13]

Forest of Equilibrium
Studio album by Cathedral
Released	14 October 1991 (1991-10-14)
Recorded	July–August 1991
Studio	Workshop Studios, Redditch, England
Genre	Doom metal
Length	54:09
Label	Earache, Relativity
Producer	Steve Gurney (a.k.a. PBL)[1] Lee Dorrian Gary Jennings
Cathedral chronology
In Memorium EP (1990) Forest of Equilibrium (1991) The Ethereal Mirror (1993)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	6/10[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]
Kerrang!	(1991)[5] (2011)[6]
Metal.de	9/10[7]
Ox-Fanzine	[8]
Rock Hard	9/10[9]

In 2009, Earache Records reissued the album along with four "bonus" songs that comprise the long-out-of-print 1992 Soul Sacrifice EP. This deluxe digipak reissue also includes a poster of Dave Patchett's cover art and a new 40-minute documentary entitled "Return to the Forest" on DVD.^[14]

Music

Chris Chantler of Metal Hammer said the album was "the result of their mutual doom obsession, twisted by their own forward-thinking extreme impulses."^[15]

Legacy

Chris Chantler of Metal Hammer said in 2020 that the album "remains truly a unique, pivotal recording."^[15]

Track listing

All lyrics by Lee Dorrian unless noted; all music by Garry Jennings unless noted

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Picture of Beauty & Innocence (Intro)/Commiserating the Celebration"			11:16
2.	"Ebony Tears"			7:46
3.	"Serpent Eve"	Mark Griffiths	Jennings, Adam Lehan	7:40
4.	"Soul Sacrifice"	Griffiths		2:54
5.	"A Funeral Request (Ethereal Architect)"	Griffiths, David Park Barnitz	Lehan	9:17
6.	"Equilibrium"			6:08
7.	"Reaching Happiness, Touching Pain"			9:08

Personnel

Personnel per liner notes.^[16]

Cathedral

• Lee Dorrian – vocals, production assistant
• Garry Jennings – guitar, production assistant
• Adam Lehan – guitar, acoustic guitar
• Mark Griffiths – bass guitar
• Mike Smail – drums

Additional personnel

• Reverend Wolski – keyboard
• Helen Acreman – flute

Production

• Steve Gurney – production (credited as PBL)^[1]
• Mark Tempest – engineering
• Dave Patchett – sleeve artwork
• Jason Tilley – photos
• J. Barry – layout