14 Dec 2008 // A review by CEOMong
If there is one album you get this summer (or ever), make it this one. Tell your friends. Get it for them for Christmas.

I’d seen them once before at Valve in Wellies, ever since I’d been awaiting a chance to get see or hear some new goodness – good to see they’re playing a lot in the coming months, especially the BDO gig where they are sure to wow the kiddies.

An epic and grandiose album, well-produced – awesome and frenetic the whole way through. Trippy jungle fever artwork, awesome new style CD case, the whole thing visually and audibly is a piece of art. I keep wanting to compare them to someone, but they are like the best bits of everything you’ve ever heard – like some sort of sexy Frankenstein.

The atmos generated by Sarah on the kax (keyboards) can’t be underestimated, combined with Andrews’ solid and smooth drumming, Milon & Bens’ precise axework, and Milons’ passionate vox - these guys are a force to be reckoned with that puts them up there with the best the world has to offer.

Track 1 – Helgorithms – straight in yer face with some monster pace and passionate vocals, I thought it was a cocky move to put your title track first, but man what a move – an epic way to start the album. Heavy but not too much, a colossal feel and pace, awesome. All too short however.

Track 2 – Fly On – velvety gloved axe, eerie background from the kax. Reminiscent of a bit of punk/emo action, poppy but not. Excellent axe fingers, graceful and well balanced.

Track 3 – I Idolist – Nice follow through from the end of the previous track, just enough time to grab a swallow of my bourbon before rocking out once again. So far this album is one helluva headbanger, and this track does not break the pace. Sneaky slower pace section near the end.

Track 4 – Bellabraves – oh man, these guys could pack out a serious stadium and have everyone on their feet with this shit, a true mosh track this one. Speedy and bassy, heady vocals and seriously sweet rhythms.

Track 5 – Searchlights – solid intro from Andrew, a real body feel retro track that demands the volume be cranked another 10dB. These guys must have had some serious fun making this album. A bit up and down in places for some variety, always running, smashing, bashing the eardrums, funnelling the goodness directly brainside.

Track 6 – Shutter – another staunch hook grabs hold and draws you in, bit of a different vocal feel on this one. Some styley kax action mixed in there, nice to hear.

Track 7 – Eye to Eye – headbanging too much now, its almost too hard to type (I had to do this bit a few times) – whoa man this is the shit right here. Even got the air gax out for a play – now we’re getting into some serious speed metal territory – throaty vox and all. Hard and heavy rhythms and axe in yer face action. If I wasn’t already at full bore I’d crank the stereo up even more – the ambience is amazing and epic, these guys are too good to be Kiwis!

Track 8 – Walk Through Fire – a bit more of a melodic hook to bring this one in, softer vox and looser gax and bass, rolling into another epic chorus. I am loving this album!

Track 9 – Hogman – shorter than the others, it makes up with awesome what it lacks in length, a full-on power-hungry track chock-full of headbanging goodness.

Track 10 – Graze the Earth – Trippy hook from Sarah, followed through with a strong axe and drummage. Cool chorus that elicits a grin and once again draws out the air-gax. Love the droppy bits and eerie kax action.

Track 11 – Rachana – a bit more delicate here, some bluesy kinda steel gax feel and ambient almost jam session feeling for an appetiser. Powerful guest vox by Sonya Waters lends a buttery and emotive feel to this red-hot curry of an album. An almost martial drumming theme, supported by liquid penetrating kax and solid gax.

Track 12 – Liquid Separation – another surprising track, I almost want to say there’s some 80s metal in there eh, its hard to describe the deep thrumming and crying goodness of the gax – a thing of beauty I tell ya.

Track 13 – Sixteen – a full-on power metal track to end with, a barbed hook draws me in right from the start to further test my poor old neck! Some higher chorded action at play here, cymbals and lighter gax provide a lot of scream and cry, elevating the track to another awesomeness layer.

Getting to the end of this epic album makes me sad, but at least I can go back and start again – which is exactly what I’m about to do.

Laters,
CEO Mong.

Cobra Khan’s emergence from the wreckage of New Zealand hard hitters Sommerset, Day One and Balance has been as well documented as the amount of thrashing the tracks from their mini album Sleepless Lions received since its release in 2006. They’ve played shows big and small over the last few years, building on the live reputation of their previous endeavours.

Disinterested in retreading old ground and playing to the conventions of whichever guitar-oriented crowd you’re most likely to lump them into, on their first full-length album Cobra Khan have sidestepped genre restrictions and audience expectations alike to make Helgorithms - an album that brings all manner of influences to bear. After key writer Milon Williams immersed himself in his favourite records before writing Helgorithms. The band has surprised even themselves with the finished product, a sentiment sure to be shared by those hearing it upon release.

Various reference points will present themselves throughout the album, some obvious, and others less so, with Cobra Khan shifting gears with ease on a record that remains cohesive throughout and exudes a quiet confidence and depth that entices on subsequent listens.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Cobra Khan

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