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Green Cathedral: Winter's Veil

Winter's Veil is the debut album from Green Cathedral, a new project comprised of members from the Philadelphia Art-Rock, Post-Punk, Prog, and Electronic Music scenes, including Lynnette Shelley (vocals), Mark S. Walsh (bass/vocals), Matthew Gambino (drums), and Dean Zigoris (Guitar) with Joe Paglia on keyboards and produced by Mark Montoro of Philly Jam Recording. Tom Theurer has since replaced Gambino on drums. All the musicians coming together from different musical backgrounds has given Winter's Veil an obvious varied palette to work with, from the opening Post-Punk styled "Don't Look Back", complete with catchy vocal hooks from Shelley and crisp guitar riffs that wouldn't have sounded out of place on one of the early Police records, to the clear nod to modern progressive rock on the vibrant "Maps of Ancient Sea Kings", the guitar work metallic and the keyboards vintage.

Shelley and Walsh provide a potent vocal team on the haunting "Crimson", complemented by sinewy bass, lilting guitar, Mellotron, and piano, while the gritty "Sea of Rust" sees hard rock and prog collide to pleasing results. Vocalist Shelley again shines on the majestic "Return to You" and the lush melodic prog of "Autumn", the latter featuring a tasty guitar solo from Zigoris. The closing title track is another nicely textured song, rich with acoustic guitars, piano, steady rhythms, synths, and perhaps Shelley's strongest vocal performance on the album.

In the end, Winter's Veil sits in an interesting place; it's perhaps too poppy for the prog crowd, and too proggy for mainstream pop fans, but that's its charm, and the band clearly knows it. A very fine debut indeed, and it will be fascinating to see what twists and turns this band head in from here.

See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!


Track Listing
1. Don't Look Back 05:30
2. Maps of Ancient Sea Kings 06:07
3. Crimson 04:31
4. Sea of Rust 05:13
5. Drink 06:47
6. Return To You 06:04
7. Autumn 07:57
8. Winter's Veil 08:10

Added: March 14th 2018
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 2850
Language: english

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Green Cathedral: Winter's Veil
Posted by Jon Neudorf, SoT Staff Writer on 2018-03-14 22:19:35
My Score:

Still catching up with 2017 releases, this latest platter is by the Philadelphia area band Green Cathedral titled Winter's Veil. This is their debut album and according to the press release the members come from a variety of musical backgrounds including art rock, punk, progressive and electronic.

Band members include:
Dean Zigoris (guitars)
Lynnette Shelley (vocals)
Mark S. Walsh (bass, vocals)
Matthew Gambino (drums, vocals)
Joe Paglia (keyboards)

The disc begins with "Don't Look Back", a rapid fire riff fest with punk undertones and strong female vocals from Shelley (The Red Masque). Her voice here reminds me just a little of Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders. The riffs slow down into a calmer mood and build up once again with swirling guitar chords. The guitar work is excellent throughout. Next is "Maps Of Ancient Sea Kings", not quite as urgent as the first track with a more relaxing and slower pace. There is a melancholic wistful tone with nice vocals and a moody keyboard background layer. Don't get too settled in because midway through the tempo changes with heavier guitar jams and excellent keyboards. Heavy feedback guitar begins "Sea Of Rust", built on an excellent main guitar riff and keyboard accents. The keyboard solo has a definite Styx-like quality. Another excellent rack is the moody and dark "Crimson" with male and female vocals meshing together very nicely over a sweeping art rock sound. For a bit of a '70s throwback listen to the outstanding "Drink" with slowly evolving guitars, impassioned lead vocals and moody psychedelic textures. I love the slow burning keyboard and guitar jam. Very cool track indeed. The art rock semi ballad "Autumn" is another stand-out track with tasty guitar, keyboards and more strong vocals from Shelley.

Winter's Veil revealed its intricate beauty after a couple spins and is a fine debut album from a band that has a boat load of potential. Highly recommended!




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