CAULDRON

Cauldron hail from Canada and consist of Jason Decay on bass & vocals, Ian Chains on lead guitar and Chris Rites on drums. As is indicated by the band members monikers, and borne out by the album cover which features a naked woman bound up in, guess what, chains, you know without hearing the first beat that you are not in for a cerebral and thought provoking listening experience a la those other Canuck rockers, Rush. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing - you can certainly enjoy listening to a lot of rock music without having your brain exercised at the same time. It is also said that you shouldn't judge a book (or album for that matter) by its cover but this release is the exception that proves the rule. The standout tracks on the CD, which isn't difficult, are probably 'The Leaven / Fermenting Entrantress', which features a decent intro and a good Sabbathesque riff, and 'Chains around Heaven', which does, as the press release issued with this record, indeed have 'a sing-along' chorus. Aside from the these songs, however, the rest is distinctly average. To be fair, there is some crunching guitar work but, due to the pretty poor production, this is at the expense of the vocals, which sound very weak in comparison, and the rythm section which is way down in the mix. In addition to the mediocre production, the lyrics, for the most part are also uninspiring. The nadir is reached by the track 'Chained up in Chains' which features a title and lyric that even Spinal Tap would think twice about using and goes to show that it must be damn difficult to find a thesaurus in Canada. In summary, this a pretty run of the mill release and not one that I will be rushing out to buy. To give Cauldron the benefit of the doubt, however, they may be a completely different proposition live and, for those of you who really want to check them out, they are in the UK at the beginning of May for four dates - see their My Space site for details.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Earache Records

Album

CHAINED TO THE NITE

Review by Dave Uphill

RUNNING TIME:

43:36

RELEASE DATE:

6th April 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) Young and Hungry
2) Conjure The Mass
3) Chained Up In Chains
4) The Leaven/Fermenting Enchantress
5) Dreams Die Young
6) Bound To The Stake
7) Witch Trail
8) Midnite Hour
9) Chains Around Heaven

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Canada

"The nadir is reached by the track 'Chained up in Chains' which features a title and lyric that even Spinal Tap would think twice about using..."