God of Metal

Ahhhhh. Cauldron Born, one of my favorite underground bands. Apparently they are no more, but it was fun while it lasted. This is the middle release from this great unknown Georgia band, though it is actually composed of material that predates their debut.

"God of Metal" is actually a collection of old recordings and demo tracks from Cauldron Born’s early days. Most of these songs date from ’94-’95 or so. The first four are from the band’s "Sword, Sorcery and Science" demo, the last four tracks are from an even earlier recording that predates the Cauldron Born name. This is very rough, underground stuff – DIY metal that sounds like it was recorded in somebody’s living room in 1983.

The first four songs are pretty cool, with Howie’s trademark chugging riffs and out-of-pocket solos. The other musicians are, unfortunately, not up to Mr Bentley’s caliber. The drummer especially is not up to snuff, and does a lot to hamper the proceedings. "Calling From the Crystal Tower", "Crusader", and "The Final Incantation" have that patented cool Cauldron Born sound, and despite the iffy production are a lot of fun. "In Fate’s Eye A King" doesn’t work as well; it tries to be an epic, kind of progressive song, but there are too many time changes and the drummer can’t keep up. The vocal lines on the chorus are OK, but the verses cram in too many words and sound labored.

The second half of the CD is from even earlier sessions, and the tracks sound even rawer. "Dreaming With the Incubus" has some nice riffs and wailing vocals from a chick (!) that are actually quite cool. The other songs aren’t quite as good, but they aren’t bad either. The sound is so muddy on these last four songs that it’s actually hard to judge them accurately.

By now everyone knows I hate digipacks, so let’s just move on. It boggles my mind that Cauldron Born can have such professional looking layouts with good art design and cool fonts, and crown it all with the crappiest cover art you ever saw. The cover painting is horrible, though it is funny. It depicts Mr Bentley himself brandishing a sword and severed head while riding a dragon through a swamp. Said dragon is munching on a decapitated body labeled "Korn", while other headless corpses labeled "Pantera", "Offspring" and "Foo Fighters" float nearby. Too bad it’s all rendered in 9th-grade study-hall-o-rama.

I wish I could rate this CD higher, as I love this band, but "God of Metal" is really a release strictly for fans. The music here is just too raw and primitive to appeal to most power metal fans. Fans of "And Rome Shall Fall" will find some nice unpolished gems here, and lovers of Fates Warning’s "Night on Brocken" will find the spirit of the 80’s alive and well. Now I just need to get a copy of "Born of the Cauldron" to make my Cauldron Born collection complete. (And if anybody knows where I can get one, email me asap at sargon999@hotmail.com, as the fucker has gone out of print.)