Cauldron - Undercover of Moonlight (2020)

You've seen me use the 'D' word many times in my Cauldron reviews, so it's gratifying that the first track on the Canadians' cover compilation is none other than Dokken's "Paris is Burning", and the cover art itself is a sendup to the Los Angeles legends. Not that I've ever made the comparison out of spite, I really enjoy that Cauldron helps resurrect the vibes I used to feel for bands like that, and Jason Decay's vocals manifest enough of a difference for them to really stand on their own. This is a pretty damn good cover, too, and the production here sounds just right, much like they pulled off with their In Ruin album. It's also, thankfully, one of the most obvious, because the 15 tracks they've selected for this collection show a VAST range of influence, and it's fun to hear how they will tackle each of them...

Speed metal classics like "Take This Torch" from Razor, or "Die Hard" from Venom, are cool in that they let the band go a little dirtier than the heavy metal anthems they usually slap us with, and I think the band actually excels in this territory, with the rawer guitar tones, although they do seem to lose a bit of themselves in trying to emulate the originals. Same with "Necropolis" from Manilla Road, I would have been much more interested in that with Jason's normal vocals, but he's doing a little Mark the Shark impression instead. When they jump into Witchfinder General's "Free Country", it fits wonderfully in the Cauldron style, and the same could be said of "Making Noise and Drinking Beer" from the German Tyrant. The latter is not one I would have expected anybody to remember, and its one of the best and most bang-up covers on this comp. As for the covers of Triumph and Bryan Adams, they kind of suck, largely because the production, which is very uneven across the whole affair because these are mostly snagged individually or in batches from various sessions or recordings. For example, "Lay it on the Line" sounds cheesy and raw and the vocals are too far over the top, where "Run to You" is a super crude live recording and sounds like garbage.

It's funny that they also cover their own alma mater Goat Horn with "Fortress Doomed", a cool song but again the mix flubs it up and doesn't reach its full potential. The cover of Canadian rock and pop hero Gowan's "Moonlight Desires" also took me by surprise, but as much as I like the original, and appreciate that these guys also dig him, there's something slightly off about the production, otherwise this would have been one of the best tracks here. So yeah, an extremely eclectic, interesting and even goofy collection of covers here that would have come across far better with a uniform studio mix, the differences are just too distracting, but not enough so that we can deny the good taste they showed in their choices. Not a lot of generic picks that you'd just expect on a million other metal bands' 'cover albums', the flaws here are all in the presentation.

Verdict: Indifference [5.75/10]

http://cauldronmetal.com/

Cauldron - New Gods (2018)

New Gods is by far the best-produced of the Cauldron albums, and I can only imagine if most of the prior full-lengths had been given the same treatment. Bright, clear and powerful enough to carry the strength of the rhythm guitars and Jason's vocals, any of the small and annoying flaws of the past are history, and this is the new standard by which they should record. As with the album before it, In Ruin, this one also sticks to their strengths at writing mid-paced, classic heavy metal with a bit of a punch to it when necessary, and almost a laid-back mood to the writing which gives it an atmosphere it might not otherwise possess if it were firing on all cylinders. Clearly rooted in the mighty 80s, the Canadians seek to smother you with quality hooks and memorable vocals, and while I don't know that I like the songs as much as those on its predecessor, the added richness of the production really goes a long way towards compensating, because even that one was a little too washed out in moments...this suffers nothing of the sort.

The formula is simple: take basic heavy metal chord structures of times past, add the distinct vocals, and profit. Worked well enough for all the hairspray, fishnet stockings and leather skirt-lings of the past, but Cauldron isn't burdened by any such lame fashion sense, they're just cultivating the strengths of accessible, occasionally AOR-worthy metal music that is pleasant on the ear. I admit that the Lovecraftian cover artwork is a bit of a throw-off, but the band has sadly not excelled in this department with the one exception of their 2012 album Tomorrow's Fortune. But the lyrics and music here really don't give you any such horror impression other than the strong associations that heavy metal and hard rock always had with that genre, especially in the 80s when band like this one's heavy influence Dokken were tapped to do. So there is a clear aesthetic mismatch that does the music no service at all, but if we can ignore that, then New Gods is a damn tight album with a timelessness about it that easily thrusts it to the forefront of their catalogue alongside its direct predecessor and the original Into the Cauldron EP.

I mean if we got this album in 1985-1987, this would be one of those 'respectable' sorts of metal records that might see a little rotation on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, mainstream enough for the hair metal crowd but also satisfactory for those into the heavier shit who were just waiting for that potential glimpse of an Armored Saint or King Diamond video at half-past midnight. Similar to a Bonfire or an Accept, maybe. Jason's vocals have never sounded more refined as this, and the guitar tone just smokes every previous Cauldron record. The drums aren't doing anything special, but they also sound great, and tunes like "Never Be Found" and "Letting Go" are among my favorites in their catalogue. They don't include any lame ballads, which you'd think they might flirt with, but they do have the very mainstream sounding "Together as None" which definitely sounds a little bit like a prom song from that glam era, but it has some warm chugging and a good chorus at least, and hell Saxon has done this a number of times (like "Hold On"), and well, so I can forgive it.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

http://cauldronmetal.com/

Cauldron - Tomorrow's Lost (2012)

I was a bit underwhelmed by the first few Cauldron records, so when I first saw the excellent Todd Kowalski cover art (do more of these, Todd) for Tomorrow's Lost, I imagined they had turned a new leaf and might be trying out something different. That's not quite the case, but what I can say for this album is that it's a righting of the ship, a better set of tunes with a better production that validates the style the Canadians had been developing through their formative years post-Goat Horn. This isn't exactly a 'great' effort, mind you, it suffers a little from over-familiarity in a few riffs, but it's balanced quite well and shows an added maturity through the band's tenure at Earache Records.

The band is still alternating between driving power metal lite ("End of Time") and their big, bombastic hard rock/heavy metal anthems ("Born to Struggle"), the latter tracing a lot of its DNA to bands like Dokken and Scorpions, and also still a little of the over-pronounced rhythm guitar tone that irked me on Chained to the Nite, if not as bad. I personally find the faster stuff here is just better mixed and more effective. Tracks like "Nitebreaker" and "Burning Forture" really live up to the material on the band's Into the Cauldron EP, which was my clear favorite until the album after this one. Jason Decay's vocals still really work for me, and the drums have a nice rumbling clip to them, as well as the lead guitars, which once again need to be a little more brazen against the rhythm riffs. A couple others I did like are "Endless Ways", which sounds like a tune that'd be better fitting on In Ruin, and "Summoned to Succumb" which rocks along at the perfect clip and has that great Dokken vibe to the chorus; these two also prove the exceptions to the general rule of how I liked the faster material more.

Tomorrow's Lost could have used slightly better production, but for the most part this is one I can sit down and listen through in its entirety without getting annoyed. I do feel that Cauldron was already losing ground at this point to a lot more exciting throwback heavy/speed metal bands, like Enforcer, or their own neighbors Striker and Skull Fist, all a lot more explosive and exciting, but what I can say for these guys is that they were so good at evoking nostalgia for those horror movie closing credits themes, or borderline metal/hard rock anthems of the 80s which thankfully eschewed the glam bullshit. I was finding myself more intrigued with the everyman metal mood that Cauldron creates, something they would refine for what I'd consider their best album four years later, or at least the one I always reach for besides the EP.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://cauldronmetal.com/

Cauldron - Chained to the Nite (2009)

It's got the kind of hot album cover many bands would have dreamed of in the 80s, but then the fact it's coupled up with the cheesy album title font and the gigantic logo is quite hilarious. We have arrived at the Cauldron debut full-length, which dropped on Earache records when the British label suddenly got involved in snapping up a bunch of retro sounding bands to compliment the grindcore and death metal royalty of their back catalog. The style on this one is fully representative of the previous EP, and yet I feel like it does show a little more maturity or restraint (pun intended) that actually sometimes drags it down a little. Really though I think my issues here come a little with the album's mix.

The guitars are just as bulky as they were, but the tone here just stands out a little too much for me, and it feels a fraction too processed, so that it starts to suffocate Jason's excellent vocals, which are absolutely on point here, I just wish I could hear them more against the bulk of the riffs. This is much more egregious on some tracks than other, for instance the opener "Young and Hungry" is one of the main offenders, it's like a young fan plugged in his personal Marshal stack and played over the original recording; and on other cuts like "Conjure the Mess" or the more power-metal oriented "Dreams Die Young", it's not such a big deal, but I honestly don't love the rhythm guitar sound on most of the runtime. The riffs themselves are pretty consistent, and they are definitely merging a lot more USPM and Euro heavy/power into their sound, even a dose of thrashing gallop, which automatically generates a more appreciated variance, a bigger sandbox for the Canadians to play around in. I had mentioned that Jason's vocals were awesome, and they throw in a lot of decent backup vocals and such that show this was a central component. The leads and melodies also sound pretty damn good, but again the rhythm guitar can off-set that.

Basically, if Into the Cauldron was your jam, I can't imagine this would disappoint you, and it continues to cultivate the aesthetics the band would continue throughout their career to date, but I think this is clearly the record most deserving of a remix, because the vocals and songwriting do deserve a little better. A couple of the tunes are also better earworms than others, but there is at least always some cool vocal line or riff in each, and though they do experiment with some of those aforementioned metal styles, there is still that core of West Coast heavy metal in plenty of tracks like "Chains Around Heaven" or "Bound to the Stake" if you wanted them to keep rockin' like Dokken. A decent debut that struggles a little under its studio choices.

Verdict: Win [7/10]

http://cauldronmetal.com/

Cauldron - Into the Cauldron EP (2007)

Born from the dying embers of Goat Horn, Cauldron was an act that sought to hone some of those same influences, but dropping off the doom metal for a more pure retro heavy metal sound redolent of, but not entirely relying upon the 80s. I think this was an important maneuver, because while the Canadians might be a little underrated even to this day, and have truthfully been inconsistent with some of the ensuing full-length albums, I think their arrival was one of a number of portents that cravings, both newfound and nostalgic for classic metal sounds were to once again explode across the metalscape, as they tend to do in cycles. It doesn't hurt that their Into the Cauldron EP is a fucking barnstormer that, at least for me, rendered Goat Horn irrelevant within about two tracks, it is just THAT much better...

This is STILL some of their best material to date, with riffing that comes across like a mix of West Coast sounds of the 80s, with the catch that it's heavier and more iron-clad. Maybe combine the first two Armored Saint records with a more aggressive Dokken, and it might turn out like this. The guitars are potent, the bass loud, the leads effective it not entirely catchy, but for me the selling point to the band has always been the vocals of Jason Decay. Down to earth, memorable, melodic and a little acidic, this guy is the epitome of the 'guy next door' heavy metal frontman, and that is what lends his presence such character. Sure you will hear a one-off higher scream or growl, but his voice just brings me back to a bunch of low rent heavy metal records that never got their due, that I'd actually find throughout the 90s in the bargain and cut-out bins on tape and LP, in Boston or at one of the many record dives near my alma mater UMass. A few friends and I would snatch these things up and take them back to our apartment or dorm room and just revel in the cheese, more often than not truly falling in love with what we've heard. Cauldron does that for me, and I thank them profusely, even if I don't like all their albums equally.

Four tunes. Three burners and "Restless", which is a little more measured, but no less powerful once it gets into those plodding triplets that Decay sounds great soaring over, and his lines there definitely expose the roots to some of the great material they'd write for their better albums like In Ruin in 2016. The mix here is really dense and home-grown, with guitars taking the forefront but not in any way clouding out the thundering drums, bass-lines or vocal track. I don't have many criticisms, I could do without some of the snarled vocals but they are so sparse it doesn't matter, the cover art is terrible, and I'm sure a few of these could be catchier than they are, but all told this was a fine introduction to the band that I will still spin alongside some of their stronger full-lengths when I need a dip in the Cauldron.

Verdict: Win [8/10]

http://cauldronmetal.com/

Cauldron - In Ruin (2016)

In Ruin reminds me a lot of any number of bargain bin metal tapes I picked up in the mid 80s, the chaff that had been separated from the wheat once the Alpha metal bands drew away from the rest of their packs and ascended to stardom on rising tides of big hair, big riffs and bodacious admirers. It also reminds me at times of random metal tracks I might hear rolling across the end credits of some lower budget horror or action flick from that same decade, after staying up later than I should, tucked into a tent of bed covers and half-devoured popcorn and sponging the cheesy underbelly of the world into a tumescent and impressionable mind. On the surface, it's second rate in just about every possible department...the chord patterns used for the rhythm guitars are often derivative, the vocalist unable to escape those sleazy confines of that Alice Cooper mid-range, the bass lines are exceedingly simplistic in support of the riffs, and the song structures are little more than your standard rinse repeat hard rock schematics.

But you know what? I've enjoyed the shit out of this record.

I am not immune to nostalgia, and where Cauldron's latest effort exceeds any that they've previously released is in its time warp capabilities, to transport a knowing audience to a time that they either lived through or dreamed about. The Canadians' previous efforts were hardly 'bad', but this is frankly my favorite Jason Decay material since his time with his previous band Goat Horn, and I can easily picture myself breaking this out throughout the year, especially when the Autumn arrives and I'm looking for some hazy heavy metal material to go along with my Trick or Treat soundtrack or other such mainstays in my collection. The sound here is contrived from a mix of NWOBHM influences ala Angel Witch, Saxon or ancient Maiden, west coast US hard rock/metal fringers like Ratt or W.A.S.P., and a modicum of German efficiency via Accept; but the atmosphere takes on a much more gray, melancholic tinge to it than an outright 18-wheeler rusty cock ring attitude. Guitars are meaty and melodic in equal measure, laid back and/or driving, with cleaner strings occasionally plucked across a verse or chorus to add a shade of lushness and mood. The chorus parts in tunes like "No Return in Ruin" and "Burning at Both Ends" will imprint more deeply into your earwax if you were born in the 60s or 70s.

There are a few deviations where the guitars surge into some speedier metal elements, and the leads are wrought with a controlled wailing. The drums are workmanlike with a splashy snare courtesy of its retro intentions, and the bass lines functional but extremely simple. Decay's vocals definitely have their limitations, and the guy is clearly not shriek-enabled as you'd here in peers Wolf and Enforcer, but he makes due with simpler, hooky vocal lines in his pitch, and they are wise to add in some harmonized backups that once again evoke that sense of age and wonder. It also helps that the lyrics are somewhat serious, this is clearly not 'party metal', though some listeners are likely to draw such a comparison. The production is large and airy, fitting for a highway trek with the windows down, and there is not a stinker among the bunch, not even the 'power ballad' build and climax of "Delusive Serenade". Cauldron's shift over to a new label (The End) has proven fruitful, and if you can set your expectations to the proper mind space, forgetting what came after that irreplaceable 1982-1986 era in classic metal, I hope you'll get a kick out of it as much as I did. Quite a surprise stirring and brewing in this one.

Verdict: Win [8.25/10]

https://www.facebook.com/CAULDRONmetal

Cauldron - Burning Fortune (2011)

Cauldron is another of the wave of throwback heavy metal bands that have been snapped up by Earache Records in an attempt to help cement the surge of hopeful old school 80s worship, alongside the better regarded White Wizzard and the simply better Enforcer. Of those three, none are necessarily 'bad', but I feel like only the Swedes do it for me the way metal used to. I could pick a record almost at random from my 80s bin and come away with a better, more authentic experience than what White Wizzard are pushing, and my only real interest in Cauldron comes from the fact that they once belonged to the Canadian heavy/doom metal Goat Horn.

Their last album, Chained to the Nite, was okay, possibly impressive if you're very new to the traditional fare, and if anything, Burning Fortune offers a mild tidying up in the same style. The mix here is a little better, drawing out Jason Decay's average, nasal melodies above the din of the guitars, but the songs don't really go anywhere fast. Like a lot of retro metal, they are so intent on recapturing what we already have decades of than taking the style and giving us a bright new spin. Songs like "Miss You to Death" and "Tears Have Come" serve little more than as a tribute to bands like the Scorpions, Fastway, Judas Priest and the like, but lacking the great guitar solos and catchy chorus parts that made them legends to begin with. Oftentimes, as in "Rapid City/Unchained Assault" or "Breaking Through", Cauldron will pick up the pace a little to the speed/power metal level of early Riot, and I feel like this mirrors a direct increase in the quality of what they're writing.

I don't mean to give an impression here that Burning Fortune sucks, because it definitely does not. The vocals and guitar tone are sufficiently taut and clean. It's the sort of album you can sit through if you enjoy the old days, and at least be happy that guys like this actually care about revisiting the terrain. If you've heard Goat Horn, you will understand that these guys are no trend jumpers. They love the past. But come three months time, or six months time, you will not remember a thing about this album. There's a reason for that, and that reason is that Cauldron simply has nothing on the old days, the huge hooks of their forebears. It's not enough to just reprint nostalgia like paper money, a band really has to snatch that hidden fire and brand itself. Where a band like Enforcer marries speed, flair and energy that has just enough charm to serve both retro and future interests, these Canadians just sort of hang out in the exhaust, breathing the dust. Dust enough to get you high for a few moments, but not nearly addictive.

Verdict: Indifference [6.25/10]

http://www.myspace.com/cauldronmetal