Cobra Verde

Hot off the heels of their debut album Obeisance Rising, an awesome chunk of Hour of Penance worship, Hideous Divinity are back to pummel us once more with their attacking brand of brutal death metal, Cobra Verde. With less tracks, shorter running time, and cover art not quite as eye-catching, one may think that Hideous Divinity have dropped the ball in comparison to Obeisance Rising, as was my initial thoughts, too.

Let me just say that those who loved the debut will find Cobra Verde equally, or more, enjoyable. It’s basically the very same album, with similar loud, clear production values, same speeding drums, whirling riffs, clear vocals, and general awesomeness. It’s Hideous Divinity as we know them, just how we love them. So allay those fears!

Guitars are just as great as they’ve ever been. I particularly enjoy their brand of chugging, lead work, and solos. “The Somber Empire” contains a lovely solo backed up by quite intricate riffs, which were certainly not written on the fly, finishing off with a lovely breakdown to end the song which would be a fan favourite played live. This sort of guitar work is found all over the album, so there’s no shortage of killer riffs punching you. Drumming is, once again, top notch. While some may think the sheer amount of gravity blasting, double kick smashing, and fills permeating every nook and cranny of Cobra Verde, it’s just another great flair that Hideous Divinity have perfected, allowing Giulio Galati to smash his kit to bits yet not become too overwhelming for the listener. Vocalist Enrico Lorenzo bellows his lungs out with some form of diction – which, to me, is still very important in the world of death metal. Lyrics have some sort of concept, too, which is very much worth reading in the booklet, so to have a strong lyricist with legible vocals, it makes it possible to growl along. I am a big fan of Lorenzo’s vocals and I hope he doesn’t change.

Unfortunately for Cobra Verde, opener “In My Land I Was a Snake” is the longest and strongest of the lot here. With its fantastic opening riff work, to the catchy-as-shit chug-fest in the middle with great 2/4 drums, to the closing riff that fades out the song, it’s definitely the best on offer, which makes it a slight disappointment that it’s positioned first on the list. This is nowhere near saying that the rest are a mass of unfulfillment – far from it. Title track “Cobra Verde” opened with clean, light guitars, which was a nice surprise for this band, and something I found a welcome addition. “Sinister and Demented” contains two killer solos with energy and finesse, much like the song in general. “Adjinakou” is a lovely slower track leading in to the Ripping Corpse cover at the end. I wished that Hideous Divinity would’ve written another original song, but the cover is quite nice.

I’m on the fence whether Cobra Verde is better or on the same level as Obeisance Rising, so maybe I need to listen to both of them together. What I do know is that Hideous Divinity is usurping Hour of Penance as the Italian brutal death band, since Regicide was a bit of a let-down. If Hideous Divinity keep up their energy and their great song writing, they could be very big, and soon. Cobra Verde is recommended for all those that love brutal death, or just good metal in general.