Tomorrow's Lost

Two members of the Canadian retro-metal trio Cauldron hail from the now-defunct band Goat Horn, whose final recording, Threatening Force, leaned less on palm-muted riffs and more on dexterous guitar leads. Cauldron's third studio full-length, Tomorrow’s Lost, finds the band creating its own branch of the metal tree by contrasting '80s thrash with a finesse in musicianship harvested from New Wave of British Heavy Metal. “End of Time” opens with distorted riffs blasting over galloping rhythms, as Jason Decay sings in a menacing tenor before Ian Chain ignites the fretboard with shredding reminiscent of early Metallica and Dokken records. With a hard rock boogie that initially recalls “Strutter” by KISS, “Born to Struggle” could be renamed “Born to Strut.” But as soon as Decay’s vocals come in, he drives the melody toward a more sinister realm with dark notes and foreboding minor chords. At five minutes and 27 seconds, “Summoned to Succumb” is the longest song here. It boasts the album’s most complex arrangements, with intricate guitar work and catchy melodies.