Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 09:57 PM by Giorgos Tsekas
Genre: Sludge Punk
Country: U.S.A.
Label: Season of Mist
Year: 2016
Black Cobra is a beast of a duo, Jason Landrian (ex Cavity) on guitars and vocals and Rafael Martinez (ex 16, ex Acid King) on drums, that makes as much noise as a bunch of hungry bisons racing in the fields. It took them almost five years to release the successor of the crushing “Invernal”, almost as much as it took them to make four records in a same five year span. All of the records are of great quality raising the bar high because of their unique combination of technique and sheer force.
The title of it is “Imperium Simulacra” and the band is touching the subject of society of simulation that was popularized by movies like The Matrix, which would be interesting to see how it would blend with the sonic attack the band unleashes with every release. The outcome is somehow mixed, not because there is any radical change in the band’s sound, the vocals are harsh and even more punk than before and the sound is thick enough. It is just that this time they haven’t managed to grab the listener by the balls all the way through the whole record. The songwriting seems a bit more sophisticated, as much as this word can apply to this kind of music, the blending of riffs and drumming is immense as always, but the songs are not as devastating as they were in the previous records. I am not sure if there is any intention to create some kind of conceptual atmosphere around the title, but the long songs like “Fathoms Below” and “Dark Shrine” seem overworked, although the first one has some amazing moments with its gradual build up, probably the best on the record. Besides some great riffs and some neck breaking outbursts here and there, I found myself perfectly satisfied only by the closing “Technical Demise” that has the essence of Black Cobra at its best, crushing with a punky edge.
I had big expectations for this record and without being a disappointment on any level, “Imperium Simulacra” didn’t exactly melt my face as I very much wanted to. A bit too exaggerating at times, a bit more stretched than it should to keep its monolithic consistency, Black Cobra delivered hard, but not as hard as they have more than once proved that they could.
3,5/6
