Black Cobra is Indeed Bestial...

You almost have to assume something that comes from ex-members of Cavity and 16 is going to be something worth hearing. So when listening to Black Cobra’s new record Bestial, I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any expectations for it. The duo that makes up Black Cobra is members Jason Landrian and Rafael Martinez. The band itself shows similarities to both members past projects, which is welcomed by me.

The idea for the duo originally formed when both Jason and Rafael were in their hometown of Miami visiting family. The result was endless amounts of tape trading and visits to each others respective place of residence (NY/LA). They released a three-song demo in 2004 that immediately demonstrated the ferocious nature of the bands sound. It’s now 2006, and after years of laboring over this release, Black Cobra has released their first album Bestial on At a Loss Recordings.

The music is dense, so dense that it almost feels like that it’s still moving at a sloth-like pace even when the band itself dives into a crust-punk fueled barrage of noise. It’s the type of sound that feels heavy even when it’s hardly making any noise at all, which is a rare occasion on Bestial. Regardless, the duo does well for being just that, a duo. The sound is large and full giving Black Cobra a sound that is almost juggernaut like, possibly larger than many of their peers. Among the dense layers the drums are pounding and pummeling, equally huge as the feedback itself. The vocals are raspy screams for which are indecipherable for the most part, fitting right along with the conveying anger displayed in the music.

I generally find “sludge” a hard genre for me to really appreciate at times. I won’t lie; there are many cases where I grow tired quickly with a lot of music associated in this genre. However, it really impresses me when something like Bestial is released that can sit in my CD player and I never have the notion to get up and take it out. It keeps my interest and to put it quite simply, it just really fucking rocks.

Black Cobra – Thrown From Great Heights [MP3]
Black Cobra – Sugar Water [MP3]

For anyone that was fans of the band member’s previous bands, by all mean check out Black Cobra. And anyone that digs music like High on Fire, Eyehategod, or anything of the sort…check it out too. You can do so by heading on over to At a Loss Recordings and picking up the album.