Bestial

Black Cobra might be a two piece, but they sure know how to play some heavy as hell music. This album showcases the band's sound nicely, fast yet still crushing sludge. This is a band that thinks they don't need a bassist, and damnit, I must say I agree completely. While they lack what's usually considered a key component of sludge / doom metal, they don't sound like they're lacking anything at all. The riffs are still heavy, the punk is still punk, the metal is still there. It's heavy, really heavy. This band takes such a minimalist approach to their brand of speedy sludge, so people might wonder whether or not two guys can be loud, heavy, and angry enough for this type of music. The answer is, thankfully, yes.

The band is labeled "sludge / doom," but in actuality they play pretty damn fast for something labeled doom. Don't get me wrong, doom parts are throughout their music, but for the most part this band likes their music downtuned and very reminiscent of hardcore punk, like true sludge. The doomy parts are definitely in there, like the instrumental track "Beneath" is slow, crushing, and just plain fucking heavy. While their doom moments do shine through, the majority of the tracks are speedy sludge with hardcore vocals that have occasional slowed down parts. One thing that is pretty apparent in their songs is the influence they get from noise. A lot of their riffs have tons of feedback that shines through at the coolest moments.

The drumming on this album really, really interested me. Rafael Martinez is known for his bass work in Acid King, but he shows how much of a virtuoso he really is. He makes great use of his toms and is a pretty well-rounded drummer on this, though he never strays into the realm of generic. He knows how to beat the fuck out of his drums and play some crazy punk, but he sure as hell knows how to slow things down at the right times. There's a lot of interesting contrast between the drums and guitars, when the guitar riffs become slightly less heavy, the drums take it from there and start pounding out some crazy stuff on the toms. When the guitar is really heavy and slowed down, the guy does his job and stays on rhythm while not getting in the way of much. These two guys work really well together.

My biggest complaints about this album would be the production and the vocals. The vocals are good for what they are, on a few tracks I really like them, the problem is it feels like he's always delivering the same line. When he opens his mouth it's usually the same thing over and over. I feel like he could to a bit more, maybe actually sing during the slower parts. The production thing just leaves the album feeling a bit too noisy at times and almost too chaotic. Overall, not a big complaint. Another thing I've noticed is every once in a while, while not often, the album slows down a little too much and can become a bit boring for a few seconds at a time. Once again, not a big deal and these can sometime lead into really amazing intros like the one in "Sugar Water."

Really, this is my favorite Black Cobra release. The drumming is top notch, guitar work definitely makes up for their minimalist approach. The vocals are passable and the whole thing is enjoyable, I'd recommend it for fans hardcore punk looking to get into metal and sludge guys who just wanna speed things up a bit.