ALBUM REVIEW: Suicide In The City – Cauldron
The revivalist trend in metalcore shows no sign of slowing any time soon, with Birmingham’s CAULDRON the latest to proudly fly the flag for metalcore’s greatest era. Having been snapped up by The Coming Strife – fast becoming a synonym for quality in UK hardcore – their debut album, Suicide In The City, easily could’ve come out any time between 2003 and 2008. Crucially though, despite drawing almost exclusively on the sound of that era, they manage to never sound like an imitation.
Suicide In The City is also very ambitious as a debut, with an overarching concept about a group therapy session in Seattle and following the story of its main character who runs the session, as well as the tales of the group themselves. It’s also heavily informed by vocalist Frazer Cassling’s own personal experiences, having been diagnosed with OCD during the UK’s lockdowns and coming to terms with that during the lowest time of his life. So it’s a bleak album in some ways, and it’s portrayed through chaotic, turbulent metalcore that veers just as much into vitriolic breakdowns as it does soaring choruses.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Suicide In The City is just how expertly CAULDRON weave the threads together, with songs not following strictly consecutively but rather exploring different moments in time before a final reveal. Opener Off Script begins with a cascade of drums and cathartic screams, while lyrically telling the tale of Tristram St Claire (the therapy group leader), showing his life growing up in a broken home and the road to becoming a therapist. Musically, it veers between the harsh verses and melodic choruses, often trading vocal styles between lines.
Standing In Awe Of A Monument is true to its name, a towering sonic achievement that marries a healthy reverence of early 2000s trailblazers like POISON THE WELL with flourishes of 36 CRAZYFISTS with the emotionally fraught delivery. It too is a historical scene setting, exploring a character’s tragic backstory through the frantic screams, searing leads and churning breakdowns. WORLD OF PLEASURE’s Jess Nyx guests on the album highlight Lonely Useless Orbit, a conversation between two characters that plays out through Cassling and Nyx trading acerbic lines. It’s almost a little meta too, as she asks why a female character is being killed off rather than one of the myriad males.
Elsewhere, lead single Rejection Pact pairs moments of dissonance with chaos, sounding all the world like a train seconds from derailment and disaster, chugs paired with screeching guitar and drums that don’t so much pound as sound like they’re being played by an octopus at times.
As tragic as the album’s story is, with the titular suicide looming large over it, Kingdom is a world apart as a love letter from CAULDRON not only to each other but their friends and those that have supported them along the way. As a debut album, it’s easily one of the finest examples of UK metalcore produced this year, proving that sometimes, the old ways really are best.
Rating: 8/10
Suicide In The City is out now via The Coming Strife Records/Ephyra Records.
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