{"id":1941,"date":"2011-02-15T00:00:44","date_gmt":"2011-02-15T00:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=1941"},"modified":"2012-02-18T02:34:38","modified_gmt":"2012-02-18T02:34:38","slug":"feature-cauldron-02-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-cauldron-02-11\/","title":{"rendered":"CAULDRON – Breaking Through? (February 2011) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

CAULDRON – Breaking Through?<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nFebruary 2011<\/span><\/p>\n

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Cauldron (l-r): Chris Stephenson, Jason Decay and Ian Chains<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Late 1999 witnessed the formation of traditional heavy metal outfit Goat Horn in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada, though its lifetime would only span across seven years; after cutting two full-length albums and one EP in the form of Voyage To Nowhere<\/em> (2001, self-released), Storming The Gates<\/em> (June 2003, October 32nd Records) and Threatening Force<\/em> (September 2005, October 32nd Records) respectively, Goat Horn split in June 2006.<\/p>\n

While guitarist Brandon Wars would go on to form Zuku, vocalist \/ bassist Jason Decay would continue Goat Horn\u2019s stylings in another group: Cauldron. \u201cGoat Horn broke up very abruptly,\u201d Jason confirms. \u201cWe had something good going, and I didn\u2019t wanna stop what we had going. Me and the guitar player got in a fight, so I put out the word that I was looking for a new guitar player to continue what Goat Horn was doing. Ian got in touch, and we basically picked up where Goat Horn left off right away; we did the Into The Cauldron<\/em> EP, which was half of what was gonna be the next Goat Horn album. I have pretty blurred memories of that, but I remember we had a good feeling about it \u2013 we were really excited about the songs. Into The Cauldron<\/em> has just my compositions, but if we had recorded the whole full-length of what would\u2019ve been the next Goat Horn album it probably would\u2019ve been a lot more diverse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goat Horn drummer Alan Chambers followed Jason into Cauldron, but left after the self-issue of March 2007\u2019s Into The Cauldron<\/em> EP. Steel Rider, who drummed on all of Goat Horn\u2019s output, temporarily filled in. \u201cAl was playing in three bands while he was in Cauldron, so he was just spread too thin,\u201d explains the frontman. \u201cHe was getting busy with Toxic Holocaust and basically chose to do that full-time, which meant he didn\u2019t have enough time to do Cauldron anymore. We got back Steel Rider who was the first drummer in Goat Horn, and he just came back temporarily to help us out until we found someone. He did shows off and on with us for a year, and then he did the drums on Chained To The Nite<\/em>. That was about it for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was Steel Rider considered a full-time member at the time Jason, or was he always deemed temporary? \u201cWe knew he wasn\u2019t in it for the long run; he wasn\u2019t committed to the touring and stuff, but was more into the \u2018getting married, buying a house and having a kid\u2019 lifestyle. Playing our kind of music, you can\u2019t really afford to do that because it\u2019s a hard living (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jason Decay<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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On October 10th, 2008 it was publicly revealed that Cauldron had signed a multi-album worldwide record deal with Nottingham, England\u2019s Earache Records. \u201cThey started emailing us out of the blue, asking about the band and what our plans were,\u201d the vocalist reveals. \u201cWe knew what they were up to, and they offered us a deal. There wasn\u2019t really anyone else interested at the time that could do something for us that we couldn\u2019t do for ourselves, and they were into signing the band for as we were \u2013 for what we did. Actually, before we were doing Cauldron I remember Al from Earache\u2019s US office wanted to sign Goat Horn, but I guess the people back in England didn\u2019t think the market was right or whatever. The classic heavy metal sound wasn\u2019t really happening at the time, but I guess musical trends change and came around in our favour, and then all of a sudden they wanted to sign us. I don\u2019t know why they changed their minds, but maybe because Cauldron was gaining more of a presence at that time. We had done a European tour by ourselves, and things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe Earache felt that Cauldron has more potential to succeed than Goat Horn Jason? \u201cYeah, maybe. Ian really cleaned up the songs a lot with his style of guitar playing; Brandon was more of a dirty riffer where Ian is more of an accomplished guitar player in all aspects, so I think that helped a lot. Maybe just starting over with a new name and things like that helped as well. I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inaugural full-length and Earache debut Chained To The Nite<\/em> arrived in stores on April 6th, 2009. \u201cI was very happy with that one,\u201d the bassist reflects. \u201cI thought it was very diverse; it had the diversity of the older Goat Horn stuff, and showed the other side of the band that the Into The Cauldron<\/em> record didn\u2019t. In terms of production, I think it was a bit rushed because we recorded that album before we even signed with Earache. We recorded that almost a year before it came out in maybe five days or something, so it was very rushed for a full-length record. I think the songs are great though. I just wish we would\u2019ve had a bit more time to record it in the studio.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was this other side of the band which Chained To The Nite<\/em> showed that Into The Cauldron<\/em> didn\u2019t? \u201cInto The Cauldron<\/em> was very straight to the point, abrasive and in-your-face,\u201d Jason comments. \u201cChained To The Nite<\/em> has longer, more doomy stuff, songs like \u2018Fermenting Enchantress\u2019 that really show the other side of the band. That heaviness of the band, and not just the aggressive part.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although a multi-album contract was inked with Earache Records, the contract was inked following the recording of Chained To The Nite<\/em>. Therefore, the release was self-funded. \u201cIt came from our own pockets, and we also borrowed money from our friends and people around us who had a few bucks to throw in,\u201d the frontman admits. \u201cEven though we knew Earache was interested in signing the band, we weren\u2019t relying on them. We were gonna make that record either way, and the only thing they did after they signed us was they had the album remixed. It\u2019s got this really raw and rushed recording and then this really long, clean mix, so there\u2019s two different things going on there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Upon the album\u2019s release, Cauldron performed several concerts in its native Canada. \u201cCanadian shows have always been great for us as far back as our first Canadian tour about eight years ago or something,\u201d beams Jason. \u201cIt\u2019s always been a good market for us, even when heavy metal wasn\u2019t so popular. I guess the only tough thing about touring Canada is the fact that the cities are very far apart, so logistically it\u2019s hard to travel. I know the last time we did a Canadian tour on our own we actually just flew out to the West Coast and did a bunch of shows there, and flew back and then drove out to the East Coast because the cities are so far apart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Several UK dates saw Cauldron act as support to Swedish metal quartet Wolf. \u201cYeah, that was a good time, a nice short little UK tour,\u201d the singer remembers. \u201cThey were good guys; we got along great with them, and I think the shows went over well.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Chris Stephenson<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Chris Stephenson stepped in behind the drumkit during 2009, a role he performs to this day. \u201cChris\u2019 band Aggressor were opening for Cauldron every time we went through Ottawa, so we got to know those guys and we\u2019d become friends with them,\u201d Jason discloses. \u201cBecause we\u2019ve never had a stable drummer, we were always looking out for other drummers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe we actually asked Chris to audition about a year before he joined the band, but he wanted to finish high school first. He didn\u2019t wanna have to drop out of high school to tour so we got a new drummer, and then sure enough a year later we needed a drummer again. We asked Chris again, he auditioned, and it\u2019s all worked out ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n

So he\u2019s definitely in for the long haul then? \u201cWell, I hope so (laughs). That\u2019s up to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Stephenson\u2019s induction came in the guise of North American treks with Enforcer and Municipal Waste. \u201cThe Enforcer tour was a good time,\u201d the bassist divulges. \u201cIt was a bit of a rough tour financially because both our bands are pretty much not unknown, but not that well known in the States. Cauldron had only done maybe a handful of shows in the north-east of the US before we did that full American tour on our own with Enforcer, and Enforcer had never played here before at all. The West Coast was great, the East Coast was great, and the whole Midwest part of the country was shit. Either way though, we had a good time doing it. The Municipal Waste tour was our second time around, our second full US tour, and that was much better; Municipal Waste is more established and has a lot bigger audience, so a lot more people were aware of the band on that tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

Did Cauldron receive a positive reaction on these two respective tours? \u201cOh yeah. It was really good, actually. On the Cauldron and Enforcer tour, everyone that came out to the shows loved it because they came to see us. On the Municipal Waste tour we were a bit more sceptical going into it though because it was such diverse tour \u2013 Brutal Truth was on that tour as well. It was a weird mix of heavy metal, thrash and grindcore, but it went over well. We didn\u2019t have a problem at any show; people seemed to love it, so it was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chained To The Nite<\/em>\u2019s touring was concluded by a four-week European stay, where Cauldron played at several open-air festivals as well as providing support to Death Angel and Nevermore for half a dozen dates. \u201cThat was three different little tours in one there,\u201d Jason clarifies. \u201cWe did the first two weeks with Suicidal Angels and Enforcer, which was great. We had this massive tour bus we shared that with all three bands, and Steelwing was on that tour as well. Good shows, good times. We did a week with Death Angel and Nevermore which were bigger shows, but not as much fun. Why was that? I don\u2019t know. Maybe no-one knew who the band was, or maybe they just didn\u2019t give a shit about us. I don\u2019t know.\u201d <\/p>\n

Cauldron wasn\u2019t well received? \u201cThe audience were just very stiff. I guess it\u2019s just playing for an audience who have no idea who you are or something. They were bigger shows, but dead crowds. Very boring (laughs). I don\u2019t know if their fans are more reserved, or what it is. The festivals were great though; the festivals had some huge audiences too, and those were great shows. We then went and did another week in the UK with Enforcer, which was pretty shitty actually (laughs). We missed two shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ian Chains<\/em><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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Laid down at Toronto\u2019s Rogue Studios with engineer Jameson Elliott \u2013 who recorded 2002 Goat Horn effort Storming The Gates<\/em> \u2013 sophomore outing Burning Fortune<\/em> underwent issue on February 14th, 2011. \u201cCauldron is coming from the same place we always have which is basically just playing the kind of music we wanna hear, and our goal every time is to not change but improve upon what we\u2019ve already done,\u201d the vocalist affirms. \u201cThat\u2019s to try to write better songs or the best songs we can, and try to perform them as well as we can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was there a greater recording budget for Burning Fortune<\/em>? \u201cYeah, there was,\u201d Jason concedes. \u201cWe got to spend something like 16 days recording and mixing this album, so it was a big step up and it allowed us to spend more time tracking it and getting better performances. I don\u2019t think we spent as much time mixing this one as we did the last one; with the last one we spent less time tracking it and more time mixing it, whereas this time we spent more time tracking it and less time mixing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Burning Fortune<\/em> arguably has a lot better sound? \u201cI think so, yeah. Even though Chained To The Nite<\/em> came out in 2009 it was recorded in 2008, so we basically had a full two years to write and demo these songs and work on them. Another thing we also had to our advantage this time was the fact that we had Chris in the band a year before we did this record, so we actually got to rehearse the songs as a band and demo them as a band which I think helped a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess everyone\u2019s got their own definition of what heavy metal is, but to us it\u2019s just a good solid slab of classic Canadian metal,\u201d the frontman says of the album\u2019s musical stylings. \u201cIf you like good classic metal which is well-written… I think it\u2019s a good record which has lots of energy and lots of integrity.\u201d <\/p>\n

Are Canadian bands like Exciter an influence on Cauldron? \u201cOh, of course. In Canadian metal, for me really anything from Lee Aaron to Voivod. Anywhere a good song comes from really.\u201d<\/p>\n

To gauge Burning Fortune<\/em>\u2019s lyrical content, listeners have to look no further than the titles of the compositions. \u201cMost of them have to do with real-life situations \u2013 what we\u2019re living, what we\u2019re going through,\u201d Jason notes. \u201cBurning Fortune<\/em> basically sums up us putting everything into this band. It\u2019s us gambling with our future, you know? We could wind up ten years down the road when we\u2019re in our 40s with nothing to show for years and years of playing metal. We\u2019re gambling with our futures here, but on the other hand I guess it could turn into something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Burning Fortune<\/em> was released on February 14th, 2011 in the United Kingdom and on the 15th in North America, all through Earache Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in February 2011<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CAULDRON – Breaking Through? Anthony Morgan February 2011 Cauldron (l-r): Chris Stephenson, Jason Decay and Ian Chains Late 1999 witnessed the formation of traditional heavy metal outfit Goat Horn in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada, though its lifetime would only span across seven years; after cutting two full-length albums and one EP in the form of Voyage […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cauldron","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1941"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1941\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4291,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1941\/revisions\/4291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}