Cobra Khan - Adversities Album Review
From the opening riff that will make the hairs on the back of your neck shiver in anticipation, Cobra Khan’s latest release Adversities, never lets up.
The quintet had already set the bar high with their previous releases, especially the 2008 album Helgorithms, ensuring many dedicated fans here and abroad. Adversities builds nicely on that seminal release to deliver another groundbreaking album.
Incorporating styles similar to Machine Head and early Shihad, Cobra Khan cements their place as masters of the musical universe with the impeccable and intimidating axe attacks of Milon Williams and Hadleigh Donald, which are truly out of this world. The ominous detuned bliss and Kyass-like intensity of Borderlands is particularly effective.
Abundantly saturated and nicely complimented by subtle effects, mix master and bass player extraordinaire Evan Short has found the perfect balance between the face melting industrial blast beats of Ant Davies and Sarah Fox’s tantalizing keyboard melodies.
Cobra Khan excels at weaving their compelling and poetically dark lyrics with killer riffs and unrelenting rhythms into an intoxicating artwork. The beautifully designed packaging does justice to what is assuredly New Zealand’s finest metal/punk release of the year.
The cleverly arranged album gets harder, faster and heavier until track eleven Strung by Staves absolutely annihilates the competition. Cellar Sleep grants a stay of execution until Lead Us again builds momentum with inexorably measured anger. White Fire inspirationally closes out fourteen faultless tracks.
From exquisitely primordial melodies to unyielding and ferocious technical prowess, Adversities is a truly epic release that delivers enough musical explosives to turn your socks into atomic dust. But don’t take my word for it; get your copy today.
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About Cobra Khan
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.
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