This is, without any subtlety, an exceedingly middle of the road work of traditional heavy metal. It’s not particularly ‘heavy’, containing little more than a set of rudimentary melodic rock riffs played at a middling pace overlaid with an exceedingly generic frontman. It bears more than a passing resemblance to the ‘glam’ metal (read: harder radio rock) of the ’80s, although Cauldron’s visual aesthetic is closer to a generic metalhead look. Nothing is particularly offensive here – the vocals are a bit lamer than average for reasons that are hard to quantify, but otherwise this is a vaguely competent albeit unremarkable recording that I am already forgetting as I write this album. You, on the other hand, are probably wondering why I would choose to cover something that’s so devoid of positive or negative qualities. It turns out that listening to this sort of recording places a few important ideas in my head.
By now, our readers should be familiar with how quickly our species as a whole forgets about the… lower tier of media works that are quickly forgotten once something more novel comes along. A sufficient amount of effort and/or financial wizardry can distort this phenomenon, occasionally resulting in an artist who refuses to leave the public eye due to radio payola, or personal misconduct, or whatever reason. Cauldron, to my understanding, is not thusly blessed, although they and associates presumably have enough business resources to create some buzz for a while. Maybe they’ll become one of those “moderately successful” metal bands I talked about earlier that can live comfortably, if not glamorously off their money. I highly doubt, however, that a band this generic is going to make any serious impact on most listeners, though and will probably fade quickly whenever they call it quits. There are two important corollaries here – the metal fanbase Cauldron has to fight for will turn over with time, and similarly so will the metal bands competing for mindshare. There’s definitely a lesson to be learned here about the state of the metal world, although you can also make a case that it’s better studied through either a more notorious band, an objectively worse one, or some combination of the two.
Tags: 2016, cauldron, in ruin, lame metal, mainstream metal, sadistic metal reviews, traditional heavy metal
Meanwhile, in Sweden
I’m discovering Enslaved.
So far, I have heard Viklingr Veldi and Frost. I look forward to listening to the rest.
This band is bloody good. It’s not as violent as Immortal, but more so than Burzum. It’s not as ethereal or atmospheric as Burzum, but more so than Immortal.
Many would therefore probably disparagingly describe them as “mild”, but I think that with this balanced spot on the black metal spectrum, they manage to describe the heroism and valour of a determined champion.
It’s not on topic, but I’m excited and wanted to share this. Have a good night.
Those are the only 2 albums you need from enslaved and they are some of the best examples of Viking metal besides Bathory’s blood fire death. Their early splits with emperor and satyricon are also quality. Enslaved went downhill fast after the frost album. If you listen to their newer releases you’ll see why some people label them as mild.
CAULDRON recordings lack power, but maybe in concert it is a different story.
Plenty of other Toronto area heavy metal bands I think are more exciting
– AXXION, MANACLE, MIDNIGHT MALICE, SKULLFIST…
but, you DMU guys might also label them as glam or something like that, since they are just plain straight ahead headbanging and clean sounding ?
Possibly, past the classic bands and albums the general taste around here is pretty bad even if they’re trying to find more out of the way projects and give them some publicity. I still only see this site as the only “metal journalism” that isn’t fucking repugnant totem climbing favor gaining bullshit, but they need some foot soldiers on the ground and out of the whatever exalted realm they dwell in.