This isn’t what I’d expect from Earache at all. Cauldron are a “traditional” metal outfit from Canada. Not a hint of Grind Madness here. Maybe Cauldron are a sound of things to come. Growling and evil has dominated metal for quite some time now. Yeah it can be great fun, but its a little one dimensional isn’t it? And hey making devil horns and growls is quite frankly a little bit embarrassing. I got that out of my system when I was 13…
Cauldron get back to metal’s roots. Its something I’m hearing more and more of, especially from new young bands like these guys. Chained to the Nite is their début, and lets not forget the cover. A naked woman covered in chains. Tongue in cheek, yet several blocks on the wrong side of good taste. It screams Spinal Tap, but hey, at least it isn’t a fucking devil or zombie. Cauldron are part of what sounds like backlash at all things doomy and miserable. Proof that you can play fast, at times punishingly fast, intricate riffs without gurning and … well … make fun tuneful metal.
The influence of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal is obvious, Cauldron wear it proudly on their sleeves. Big riffs and vocals that aren’t screamed, the sound that came out of Britain in the late 70s and early 80s, on the back of prog and before the dominance of thrash/death metal. Their take on NWOBHM has definite transatlantic qualities. Forget the modern US New Metal sound. Again, its the 80s that Cauldron tackle. Its like Eddie Van Halen and The Fucking Champs having a fight on stage, which would be a spectacle worth seeing. The crisp production from Neil Kernon (Queensryche, Dokken … hehe, I guess I know where these guys are coming from) really adds to the sound. Cauldron put the fun back in metal, and not before time.
-Alaric-
