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...and Rome Shall Fall (2002) is the second full-length album by US power metal act Cauldron Born. In the years since the release of Born of the Cauldron (1997) – a genre highlight as far as this reviewer is concerned – the band have parted with vocalist Danny White and replaced him with David Loudon.
It's not a change that really affects the band's music too much as both are employers of the standard high register USPM vocal style for the most part, though for my part I do slightly prefer White's vocals on the debut as there are times on ...and Rome Shall Fall that I find Loudon's voice to start to grate on me a bit, which is always a risk in this genre, though I can't find fault in his lively performance.
There has been some changes in the band's actual music though. While both this and Born of the Cauldron fit the mould of the so called blue-collar USPM, this one takes the band's music one step further towards the playing standards of European power metal, which in layman's terms means more speed metal influences riffs and less leaning on traditional heavy metal roots. The more notable change though for me is in guitarist Howie Bentley's lead playing, which had strong neoclassical tones to it this time.
Born of the Cauldron had some parts that I felt were progressive and more like white-collar USPM, but there isn't anything like that this time, just a band delivering fun and energetic power metal songs and doing them well, with key tracks being Finder of the Black Stone and Blood Bath in the Arena. ...and Rome Shall Fall sadly doesn't have that special feeling that Born of the Cauldron has always given me though – that of a classic album. But with that said, this one still deserves a place in anyone's US power metal collection and is very much a worthy follow-up to its predecessor.
This would be the last Cauldron Born release until the EP Sword and Sorcery Heavy Metal (2014), which I've still to hear. They haven't been the most productive band around, but they're certainly produced a couple of must own albums so far and I'm hoping that one day they'll make it a trio.