The terms "Retro-Metal" and "Trad Metal" have become somewhat genre-defining over the last few years as the wave of bands grabbing influences from classic 70s and 80s artists gets deeper and deeper.  Along with music that harkens back to a less-confining time...white high-top shoes, tight jeans, cut-off denim jackets, bullet belts and patches have also made their way back in the Heavy Metal world, with many of the bands sporting these fashion trends doing little more than study their older brothers' vinyl collections and imitating what they hear.  There are, however, some acts who have been delivering quality, original "vintage" Metal sounds for several years and long before the "Retro" and "Traditional" tags became hip.  Toronto's CAULDRON are absolutely one of those bands, and their music is void of all trendy terms and can be summed as simple, "Heavy Metal".     Vocalist/bassist Jason Decay has been somewhat of a Heavy Metal icon for years now, originally due to the underground success of his pre-CAULDRON band GOAT HORN, who released two full-length platters of gut-level Metal including the fan and critically-acclaimed Storming The Gates album in 2003.  Formed in 1999 and playing Metal heavily influenced by Cathedral, Celtic Frost, Judas Priest and such Canadian icons as Anvil and Exciter (GOAT HORN shared the stage with both), the band raced across Canada and select markets in the States in support of the release, while an organic press wave as well as Metal radio supported the release (and more recently in 2009 Metal Hammer cited Storming The Gates as the catalyst for this current wave of Old-School Metal). Storming's success eventually brought their name all over the world until the band's untimely end after the release of the Threatening Force EP in 2005.     Decay wasted absolutely no time and continued his Heavy Metal vision quest with new guitarist Ian Chains and immediately formed CAULDRON within days after GOAT HORN's official demise.  By Spring 2007 the Into The Cauldron EP was released on CD and limited edition vinyl (both formats are long sold out) and the band continued to head up a wave of young bands who purveyed classic sounding Metal and looked as if they were straight out of 1985.  Completing the original CAULDRON lineup was drummer Al Chambers, who was replaced by GOAT HORN drummer Steel Rider in time to record the band's debut Earache full-length, Chained To The Nite in 2008.  While the band will always boast about their love for NWOBHM and classic Canadian Metal, Decay and CAULDRON's influence is also derived from many classic Metal Blade, Noise International and Megaforce artists (Omen, Running Wild, Metallica, Armored Saint and Anthrax just to name a few).  CAULDRON are an encyclopedia (wikipedia?) of Heavy Metal, and the music on Chained To The Nite growls with hunger, attitude and a blue-collar sense of melody that all imitators seem to lack.  The band again played dozens of Canadian dates upon the album's release in 2009, and also supported Wolf for several dates in the UK.  Canadian drum wiz Chris Stephenson entered the fold, completing the current lineup and pushed the three-piece outfit to maximum strength.  As the buzz and success of Chained... continued, the band made 2 full US runs with Swedish sensations Enforcer and later opening for Municipal Waste.  CAULDRON's support of Chained To The Night was capped off with a 4-week run in Europe (hitting a handful of open-air festivals in the process) including a half-dozen dates supporting Death Angel and Nevermore and a return visit to the Muskelrock Festival in Sweden.     As countless bands have since jumped on the Classic Metal bandwagon since their inception, it was CAULDRON's ultimate goal to not listen to any passing trends and simply write a BETTER album to follow up Chained To The Nite.  Focusing more on their keen sense of melody while letting the music take them further in every direction, Burning Fortune is the album CAULDRON want to represent exactly what their brand of Heavy Metal is all about.  Relying on Decay's old colleague and engineer Jameson Elliott (who recorded the GOAT HORN Storming The Gates gem back in 2002) and Rogue Studios to capture the band's organic live sound, Burning Fortune ups the ante for the band and is 9 tracks (10 if you are lucky enough to get the limited edition) of pure, unadulterated Metal music for fans of both the genre's forefathers as well as the "true" acts of the last 20 years.  The basic drum, bass and rhythm guitar tracks were actually recorded live in the studio, which immediately gives the new album an aggressive edge.  Opening track "All Or Nothing" sounds the alarm with ripping riffs and double bass thunder, while "Miss You To Death" and "Tears Have Come" show the more melodic tendencies of this Canadian Metal assault.  Other standout cuts "Frozen In Fire", "Queen Of Fire" and "Rapid City/Unchained Assault" show the strength in CAULRON's songwriting and prove why they have continued to fly above and beyond their peers.  Burning Fortune is a standout slab of pure Heavy Metal that raises the bar for all denim n' leather bands to strive for, regardless of what style of Metal they prefer to be called.