Holy Grail, & Cauldron @ Nile Theater

Genre revivals are interesting phenomena that don't always occur in chronological order. For example, the current thrash metal revival has been going strong since the early 2000s, but the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound that served as a precursor to the original thrash uprising in the 1980s is...

By Mike R. Meyer

May 12, 2011

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Genre revivals are interesting phenomena that don't always occur in chronological order. For example, the current thrash metal revival has been going strong since the early 2000s, but the New Wave of British Heavy Metal sound that served as a precursor to the original thrash uprising in the 1980s is just now enjoying a resurgence, albeit a decidedly non-British one. Two bands at the forefront of the NWoBHM revival are Pasadena's Holy Grail and Toronto's Cauldron, who, surprisingly, sound dissimilar from one another. Holy Grail's sound is rooted in the classic, twin-guitar assault of NWoBHM stalwarts Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. The band even covered a pair of Priest tracks on its debut EP, Improper Burial. Cauldron, on the other hand, is cut from the same radio-ready arena-rock cloth as early Def Leppard and The Scorpions. (Yes, we know the Scorpions are from Germany, but they might as well be an honorary member of the NWoBHM roster.) Despite their sonic differences, Holy Grail and Cauldron play their music with such sincerity that just listening to it might make you grow an un-ironic mullet and run out to buy a late-'70s Trans Am with T-tops and a big-ass bird painted on the hood. Don't say we didn't warn you. — Mike R. Meyer

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