The Canadian province of Ontario has long been a haven of traditional heavy metal and speed metal bands, including Anvil and Exciter for starters, and not unworthy of being mentioned, the extreme thrash outfit Slaughter which released the seminal early death metal album Strappado in 1987. One would need a ledger to detail all of the bands that have stayed true to heavy metal’s vision in the sordid halls of Toronto and its neighboring cities. Among those bands, at the top of the crop should be mentioned Cauldron, a band that has existed for just over a decade under the guidance of Jason Decay and Ian Chains.
Before the so-called new wave of traditional heavy metal was even a catchphrase to describe bands that were paying homage to acts like Anvil, Saxon, old school Priest, and Maiden, Cauldron was coming up out of the remains of Goat Horn; one would need to trace the lineage of Decay and Goat Horn back a decade further, and I would highly encourage you to watch the “Rotten Roll” video, even if you have already done it 1000 times, as I have. In 2009, Cauldron released their debut full length, a banger called Chained to the Nite, an album that set the precedent for what anyone else should be doing to respect true metal. With Goat Horn’s drummer Jason Mellish providing a kick behind the melodies and rhythms, the power trio accomplished an album that easily stood on an equal level with just about anything that came out two decades earlier. In an age of copycats and has-beens, Cauldron exercised an organic chemistry with an innovative mindset, implementing formulaic precision with the raw sleaze of 80s rock stars. It could not be done without the cerebral mindset of three passionate Millenials who were conjuring up a scene from the past, but under their own banners.
New Gods is Cauldron’s fifth full length in a decade and a follow up to the critically acclaimed In Ruin. The album takes the band in a slightly different direction, albeit not too far from what has pleased many of their fans. New Gods is a slow and heavy tribute to old-school arena rock and traditional heavy metal bands that emphasized more on formula than on face melting showmanship. The riffs still provide high energy, such as on the track “Letting Go”, which stays at a crawling tempo building up to a straightforward chorus. This song, like many on the album, has a simple pop template that emanates out through gritty aesthetic of metal.
Surrendering machismo for soul and depth, New Gods greatest moments shine through on its bluesy ballads. However, the intensity favorable to thrashers and headbangers isn’t completely absent, as evident on the righteous skull bashing track “Drown,” and “Last Request” rips right down the length of this album’s conclusion.
New Gods has very little to offer in terms of outrageous excess, complex arpeggios, and theatrical amusement. On the other hand, Cauldron does continue on the beaten path of their formatted mid-tempo brooding riff rock, which has worked out quite well for them. New Gods blares out an amalgam of Angel Witch and Ratt, an odd combination in theory that considerably works out quite well for them in practice.
New Gods is available for purchase here.
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