The Carnival Bizarre

The Carnival Bizarre
Studio album by Cathedral
Released	29 September 1995 (1995-09-29) [1]
Recorded	29 May – 14 June 1995
Studio	Parkgate Studios
Genre	Stoner metal, doom metal
Length	62:48
Label	Earache
Producer	Kit Woolven
Cathedral chronology
Statik Majik (1994) The Carnival Bizarre (1995) Supernatural Birth Machine (1996)

Professional ratings

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

The Carnival Bizarre is the third studio album by British doom metal band Cathedral, released in September 1995 through Earache Records. ^[1]

Released in 1996, the related Hopkins (The Witchfinder General) EP features that titular track along with four additional songs.

Critical reception

Jem Aswald, in Trouser Press , wrote: "Pagan idolatry aside, Carnival Bizarre is Cathedral’s best and tightest album yet, rectifying many of the indulgences of the past and concentrating on throbbing grooves and viscous riffage – and a shout-out to Huggy Bear." ^[9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Lee Dorrian and Garry Jennings, except where noted

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Vampire Sun" (Written by Jennings, Dorrian and Scott Carlson)	4:06
2.	"Hopkins (The Witchfinder General)"	5:18
3.	"Utopian Blaster"	5:41
4.	"Night of the Seagulls" (Written by Jennings, Dorrian and Carlson)	7:00
5.	"Carnival Bizarre"	8:35
6.	"Inertia's Cave"	6:39
7.	"Fangalactic Supergoria"	5:54
8.	"Blue Light"	3:27
9.	"Palace of Fallen Majesty"	7:43
10.	"Electric Grave"	8:25

Japanese version bonus track

No.	Title	Length
11.	"Karmacopia"	5:06

Personnel

Cathedral

• Lee Dorrian – vocals, sleeve concept
• Garry Jennings – guitar, mellotron (tracks 5 and 8), keyboard (4, 10), percussion (5, 10), choir (4)
• Leo Smee – bass, mellotron (3, 8), choir (4)
• Brian Dixon – drums, choir (4)

Additional musicians

• Tony Iommi – guitar (3)
• Kenny Ball – trumpet (7)
• Mitchell Dickinson – gong (3), choir (4)

Technical personnel

• Kit Woolven – production, engineering
• Doug Cook – assistant engineering
• Noel Summerville – mastering
• Dave Patchett – front cover
• Leilah Wendell – inside art
• Ray Palmer – photography
• Aston Stephens – layout

References

1. "Cathedral 'The Carnival Bizarre'". earache.com. Earache . Retrieved 4 November 2016.
2. Birchmeier, Jason. Cathedral: The Carnival Bizarre at AllMusic. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
3. Filicetti, Gino (1 October 1995). "CoC : Cathedral - The Carnival Bizarre : Review". Chronicles of Chaos . Retrieved 16 January 2024.
4. Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 74. ISBN   978-1-894959-62-9.
5. Larkin, Colin, ed. (1998). "Cathedral". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 2. MUZE Inc. pp. 990–991. ISBN   0-333-74134-X – via Internet Archive.
6. Shiels, Liam (23 September 1995). "Albumz". Kerrang! . No. 564. EMAP. p. 48.
7. Florian (27 September 1995). "Cathedral - The Carnival Bizarre Review". metal.de . Retrieved 16 January 2024.
8. Hiller, Joachim (October 2008). "Review - Cathedral - The Carnival Bizarre". Ox-Fanzine (in German). Retrieved 16 January 2024.
9. "Cathedral".