The Canadian outfit of Cauldron continues to release new albums on a steady pace having achieved a rather paradoxical “achievement” through the years. Meaning, that they started off with a couple of in your face, speedy albums with clear references to the NWOBHM genre and somewhere along the path they slowed down a little bit and focused on a sound that has more in common with the 70s bands but through an 80s spectrum. Are you still with me? Let’s see what I mean…

“New Gods” is the fifth full length album by Cauldron and once again it doesn’t bear much difference to its predecessor (“In Ruin”) which was quite satisfactory, I may add. Personally, I can’t really relate to that style or understand the notion of the band to lose its early identity in favor of a more controlled and “tamed” sound. I totally get if the guys want to evolve but it is plain to see that the new songs lack in quality compared to the brilliant “Chained To The Nite” & “Burning Fortune” records. The two exceptions are the two excellent songs “Prisoner of the Past” and “Last Request” that open and close the new album respectively.

All in all, I was more or less disappointed with “New Gods” and I really hope that Cauldron will return to their early roots.

Highlight: Abominable cover artwork.