By Tom Hocker
This was my first time hearing Belgian metallers Cobra The Impaler and I’m happy to throw in my two cents worth and say that I am now a fan of this ban. Together, they integrate their sound flawlessly as I unravelled different elements every time I listened through a track, resulting in a juggernaut of an album that is a rifftastic, chuggy, brutal, sinister kick in the balls from the first note.
‘Magnetic Hex’ starts things off with one hell of a catchy riff that almost immediately stuck in my head. Instrumentally the tracks are aurally satisfying, i love the doom-ish sound of the guitar and bass lines.
I heard elements of multiple musical genres. Vocally, I could hear death metal, power metal and symphonic metal to name a few. The percussion was spot on, with it’s array of tempo changes and superbly timed fills: I even heard some blast beats in there.
My favourite track is the acoustic ‘Eye Of The Storm’, which is a prologue to the title track ‘Karma Collision’. This haunting track has such an eerie and unsettling feeling, which sets the tone for the remaining six tracks of the album.
Overall this was an interesting and very satisfying album to listen to. Listening to the album once is not enough to appreciate all this album has to offer. Listen for yourself, you will find different elements and layers.
This will be a favorite for fans of various metal genres and sub-genres. I give this a very solid seven out of ten horns. \m/
- ‘Karma Collision‘ is released on Friday (31 May).
- Cobra The Impaler play ArcTanGent on Wednesday 14 August.
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