Brad FlynnCauldron
Tomorrow’s Lost
Earache Records
★★★★★
What is up with Canada lately? Seems like they are no longer happy being known for stellar beer (seriously, if you have not tried Labatts or Moosehead you haven’t lived), the Mckenzie brothers (take off you hoser) and hockey. Lately, I have been getting hit with amazing music from of our great neighbor to the north.
I have once again found myself with Canadian metal staring at me straight in my face. This time in the form Toronto’s Cauldron and their release Tomorrow’s Lost.
I have listened to all styles of metal….thrash, death, power, sludge, industrial, hair, etc., but Cauldron doesn’t seem to fit into any singular metal style, rather combining elements of several styles, so let’s call it retro modern metal. Did I just coin a new term? Only time will tell, but I’m sure I would never get credit for it anyways.
Back to Cauldron. Formed in Toronto in 2006 following the break up of Goat Horn, the band went through some line up changes and settled currently with Jason Decay on bass and vocals, Ian Chains on guitars and Myles Deck on drums. The band definitely was influenced by 80′s metal and it shows. Every so often while listening to this album, you feel like you have heard it somewhere before. RATT maybe, or was it WASP or even Motorhead? Doesn’t really matter, I loved all those bands, so for me, this album kicked ass.
Cauldron – Nitbreaker Video
The vocals on this album are some of the most melodic I have heard put to heavy metal since the days of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. Upon first listen you will have back-patched denim jacket deja vu of the glory filled days of metal. You remember those jackets, don’t you? Projecting a huge sound, musically this album is phenomenal, even more so when the realization that this is a three piece band hits you. At times you would swear that this is easily a five member band with huge guitar solos that sound as if there are two lead guitarists playing in synchronization. This album has arena rock sound with garage band attitude and lots of energy.
Could Canada be the launching pad of something similar to the “New Wave of British Heavy Metal?” With what I’ve been hearing lately, especially if it is the breeding ground of bands like Cauldron, I believe they could. So with summer upon us, buy this album, roll down the windows of your Trans Am (or at least pretend with whatever you are driving is one) and crank this shit up loud!