Much dismay in The Quietus bunker this afternoon, after learning that one of our favourite bands, Cathedral, are planning to bow out next year. The group will play their final live shows towards the end of this year and release one last studio album in 2012 before going their separate ways.

Singer Lee Dorrian said: "It's simply time for us to bow out. Twenty-one years is a very long time and it's almost a miracle that we managed to come this far! We've had a great time during Cathedral's existence and it has literally been our life. It's just time to move on and leave our recorded legacy to linger.

"Our latest album The Guessing Game is exactly where we wanted to be after all this time. Staying in one place, being repetitive and predictable is something we wanted to avoid right from the off.

"We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere gratitude to those special people who have supported Cathedral over the years. It may sound like a cliché but it's certainly true - we simply wouldn't have been able to do it without you, thanks!"

You can read A Quietus interview with Cathedral by clicking here.