The Serpent's Gold

The Serpent's Gold
Compilation album by Cathedral
Released	June 21 2004
Recorded	1989 - 2003
Genre(s)	Stoner Metal, Doom Metal, Paychedelic Rock, Hard Rock
Length	157:08
Cathedral chronology
The VIIth Coming (2002)	The Serpent's Gold (2004)	The Garden of Unearthly Delights (2005)

The Serpent's Gold is a compilation by Coventry doom band Cathedral, released on Earache Records in June 2004. It's a career spanning set ranging from the band's debut to Endtyme with a host of rarities in between.

Background

In late 2003 it would be announced by Cathedral and other sources that The Serpent's Gold was being curated between album releases. It would be revealed as a two-disc set with one disc being a "best-of" (The Serpent's Treasure) spanning all of Cathedral's releases on Earache (Forest of Equilibrium to Endtyme). The second disc, entitled The Serpent's Chest would be composed entirely of rare Cathedral tracks, eleven of them being previously unreleased to the public.

Along with an extensive piece by Olivier Badin entitled Blame It On Cathedral the album features a career-spanning interview with Dorrian and extensive liner notes on the rare tracks by Garry "Gaz" Jennings.

Tracklist

Cathedral-The Serpent's Gold (Full album) CD1

Cathedral-The Serpent's Gold Full album CD 2

The Serpent's Treasure

• 1. "Ride" – 4:46
• 2. "Hopkins (Witchfinder General)" – 5:18
• 3. "Autumn Twilight" – 5:49
• 4. "Midnight Mountain" – 4:55
• 5. "Soul Sacrifice" – 4:32
• 6. "Enter the Worms" – 6:05
• 7. "Stained Glass Horizon" – 5:30
• 8. "Vampire Sun" – 4:07
• 9. "Cosmic Funeral" – 6:59
• 10. "Ebony Tears" – 7:42
• 11. "Melancholy Emperor" – 5:35
• 12. "Equilibrium" – 6:04
• 13. "Utopian Blaster" – 5:38
• 14. "Voodoo Fire" – 5:11
• 15. "Imprisoned in Flesh" – 1:38

The Serpent's Chest

• 1. "Hide & Seek" – 1:41
• 2. "Neophytes for Serpent Eve" (Demo Version) – 8:16
• 3. "Violet Breath" – 3:00
• 4. "Night of the Seagulls" (Demo Version) – 5:24
• 5. "Magic Mountain" – 6:16
• 6. "A Funeral Request" (Live in Brussels, Belgium 18/4/94) – 9:06
• 7. "The Olde Oak Tree" – 4:01
• 8. "Schizoid Puppeteer" – 12:14
• 9. "Carnival Bizarre" (Demo Version) – 9:30
• 10. "Rabies" (Witchfinder General Cover) – 4:41
• 11. "Blue Light" (Live in Tokyo, Japan 30/5/01) – 9:56
• 12. "Commiserating the Celebration (Of Life)" (Demo Version) – 3:14

Track Information

The Serpent's Treasure

• Tracks 1-10 & 1-12 - Forest of Equilibrium
• Tracks 1-3 & 1-5 - Soul Sacrifice EP
• Tracks 1-1, 1-4, 1-6 & 1-15 - The Ethereal Mirror
• Track 1-9 - Statik Majik EP
• Tracks 1-2, 1-8 & 1-13 - The Carnival Bizarre
• Track 1-7 - Supernatural Birth Machine
• Track 1-14 - Caravan Beyond Redemption
• Track 1-11 - Endtyme

The Serpent's Chest

• Hide & Seek - An instrumental version of "Imprisoned in Flesh" from "The Ethereal Mirror", originally with the intent of each track ending a respective side but forgotten til' years later.
• Neophytes For Serpent Eve - Demo recorded in 1991 with the "In Memoriam" lineup.
• Violet Breath - Outtake from "The Ethereal Mirror" recorded in 1992.
• Night of the Seagulls - Demo recorded in 1994 for "The Carnival Bizarre" and the last recording of this lineup (Dorrian/Jennings/Hornyak/Carlson) before Carlson and Hornyak returned to the States.
• Magic Mountain - Early version of "Midnight Mountain" recorded in 1992.
• A Funeral Request - Live recording in Brussels, Belgium on 18 April 1994. Recorded on the Cross Purposes Tour with Black Sabbath with the lineup of Dorrian, Jennings, Griffin, Hasselvander and Carlson.
• The Olde Oak Tree - Originally written for and ultimately left off "The Ethereal Mirror". Recorded in the same sessions as "Magic Mountain".
• Schizoid Puppeteer - Recorded specifically for Dark Passages Vol. II and the only song on disc two that was previously released.
• Carnival Bizarre - Demo recorded in 1994 for "The Carnival Bizarre", in the same sessions as "Night of the Seagulls".
• Rabies - Witchfinder General cover recorded in January 1994 after Lehan and Griffiths had left, done just for fun between Dorrian and Jennings.
• Blue Light - Recorded live in Tokyo, Japan on 30 May 2001 on the Endtyme Japan tour. The first and only known time the song had been done live as a special treat for the Japanese fans.
• Commiserating the Celebration (Of Life) - Recorded in 1991 in the same demo sessions as "Neophytes for the Serpent Eve".

Personnel

• Lee Dorrian - Vocals (All Tracks), Liner Notes, Curator
• Gaz Jennings - Guitar (All Tracks), Bass (2-6), All Instruments (2-10), Liner Notes, Curator
• Leo Smee - Bass (1-2, 1-7, 1-8, 1-11, 1-13, 1-14, 2-8, 2-11)
• Brian Dixon - Drums (1-2, 1-7, 1-8, 1-11, 1-13, 1-14, 2-8, 2-11)
• Mike Smail - Drums (1-10, 1-12)
• Mark Griffiths - Bass (1-3, 1-5, 1-10, 1-12, 2-2, 2-12)
• Adam Lehan - Guitar (1-1, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-9, 1-10, 1-12, 1-15, 2-1, 2-2, 2-3, 2-5, 2-7, 2-12), Bass (2-7)
• Mark Ramsey Wharton - Drums, Flute, Penny Whistle (1-1, 1-3, 1-4, 1-5, 1-6, 1-9, 1-15, 2-1, 2-3, 2-5, 2-7)
• Ben Mochrie - Drums (2-2, 2-12)
• Dave Hornyak - Drums (2-4, 2-9)
• Tony Iommi - Guitar (1-13)
• Victor Griffin - Guitar (2-6)
• Joe Hasselvander - Drums (2-6)
• Scott Carlson - Bass (2-4, 2-6, 2-9)
• Dave Patchett - Artwork
• Nick Peel - Live Booking
• Paul Loasby - Management
• Dan Tobin - Curator
• Matthew Vickerstaff - Design, Layout
• Olivier "Zoltar" Badin - Liner Notes, Interviewer
• John Paul Braddock - Mastering

External Links

• Discogs page on The Serpent's Gold
• Exclaim! Review