Album Of The Day-Black Cobra-"Bestial" (2006)

The Album Of The Day is "Bestial" by Black Cobra.



Review:

As pleasantly thick as Mariah Carey, Black Cobra’s first full-length, a heavy slab of doom/sludgecore, sees guitarist/vocalist Jason Landrian and drummer Rafael Martinez not only paying tribute but contributing to a burgeoning scene of nihilistic challengers to both traditionalism and cleanliness. The two fight their way through assumed demons with reckless abandon, one possessing an axe capable of producing riffs that can rid any man’s ballsack of the tiniest and most impenetrable of hairs with one simple, crushing note (think of Mastodon’s “Iron Tusk”), and the other bitchslapping foes with sticks that sound so full and weighty that if they were to be made human would instantly rise to the top of porn stardom based on size alone.

Earthquakes will implode on themselves before reaching the earth's surface when Bestial is unleashed upon the world. Women and children will run in fear. Hell, even the venerable Chuck Norris would wince were he to hear the opening bomb to “Sugar Water.” Bestial is one dangerous collection of music, proving that not every sonic aesthetic has been recycled and abused, and as recycled and abused as the phrase “expect the unexpected” continues to be, it applies more to this album than any I’ve listened to this year. I thought I was in for 24/7 mayhem, but Black Cobra takes a slight break and smokes out on the instrumentally contemplative-sounding “El Doce de Octubre,” a song that not only incorporates a lot of weird and unexpected pauses but ups the sludge as well. Most tracks stay within a three to four minute time frame, each representing a unique result of a well-exercised sludge machine that irons out intense riffs with developed mastery. While many bands producing similar sounds tend to elongate certain passages to seemingly no end, Black Cobra cuts the fat off of unnecessary tendons and keeps the album primitively absent of decoration.

There’s a movement in heavy music, sponsored by legends Isis and newcomers like The Abominable Iron Sloth and now Black Cobra. It’s neither silent nor unassuming, and challenges the values of clean production, pristine guitar tones, and identifiable choruses. While clearly a part of this movement, Bestial sways to and fro with a personalized rhythm that demands a unique response from listeners, and its succinctness allows for a greater accessibility than many of its peers. (Chris Chellis, MetalReview.com)

Track Listing:

01. One Nine
02. Thrown From Great Heights
03. El Equis
04. Beneath
05. Omniscient
06. The Cry Of Melora
07. Broken On The Wheel
08. Sugar Water
09. El Doce De Octubre
10. Sombra De Bestia
11. Kay-Dur-Twenty

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