Cathedral are a doom metal band from Coventry, England. The group early on forged a link between the Black Sabbath-inspired dirges of Trouble and Saint Vitus with the 1990s extreme metal aesthetic, taking the next step toward making doom even slower and heavier.

The band was founded in 1989 by Lee Dorrian (former singer of grindcore pioneers Napalm Death), Mark 'Griff' Griffiths (a former Carcass roadie) and Garry 'Gaz' Jennings (formerly of thrash metal upstarts Acid Reign). At first they played very heavy and slow doom metal that was first released through Rise Above Records, vocalist Lee Dorrian's indie label, before signing to Earache. Their debut album "Forest Of Equilibrium" was one of the first examples of death/doom genre. They later incorporated elements of stoner rock and progressive rock into their sound when the band signed to Columbia Records in the USA in 1992 (while still under contract with Earache U.K.). They were later dropped by Columbia Records in 1994. The band continued with Earache Records until 2000. Then signed to Dream Catcher Records for one lp and a tour. In 2004 Cathedral signed to their current label Nuclear Blast.

In 1989 Lee Dorrian left his former band Napalm Death mainly because he was getting sick of the punk scene and did not like the death metal direction Napalm Death was heading towards. Cathedral was formed after Lee Dorrian and Mark Griffiths met and discussed their love for doom bands like Candlemass, Dream Death, Pentagram, Trouble, and Witchfinder General. Thus, Cathedral was born as a death/doom band on their first releases, but over time became what many consider to be "modern doom metal" and today, they are a stoner/groove metal band with some doom influences.

The only original band members in the current line-up are Lee Dorrian and Garry 'Gaz' Jennings on guitars, although Jennings did once leave the band in their early history, only to rejoin shortly afterwards.

Lee Dorian has also stated in an interview with the Chronicles of Chaos that Cathedral will end one day. That, unlike his previous band Napalm Death, Cathedral won't be around forever.

Dorian has talked in the past about his issues with the categorisation done by the music press, especially with the "stoner rock" tag: