Cauldron – Burning Fortune

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When does imitation cease to be flattering and start to do harm? Ask Cauldron; their latest album Burning Fortune has some great moments, but lots of faults. The main thing that surprised me was that I always figured Cauldron to be a stoner/heavy metal band based on their marketing, sort of like Saviours. I couldn’t be more wrong: this is straight-up hair metal rock from the early 80′s. Miss You To Death and Frozen In Fire both sound like they could have come from some of Ozzy Osbourne‘s solo material, complete with Randy Rhodes guitar solo’s. The majority of their songs sound like radio hard rock from 20 years ago, with Whitesnake or Scorpions being conjured up more than once. However, there are definitely some good moments on the album that really are headbangers. Rapid City/Unchained Assault sounds like an early Blind Guardian speed metal track, and All Or Nothing shows how influenced Cauldron are by bands like Angel Witch or Sortilege. Unfortunately, the great metal tracks are brought down by cheesy hair ballads, like Tears Have Come or Queen Of Fire which can just be downright embarrassing to listen to at times. That’s not to say all the retro-sounding tracks are bad. Just like the bands before them, they can create some very catchy songs. If this album was released in 1981, Cauldron would be huge! I’m just not entirely sure what a band in this day and age wishes to accomplish by striving to make music that sounds like it’s from an “I Love Metal Ballad’s” compilation. Cauldron definitely has a spark to accomplish bigger and better things, but Burning Fortune is not their masterpiece.

Written by Jackson May
More: 2011, Albums, Heavy Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Cauldron