Adversities Album Review

Cobra Khan

Review by River Tucker // 9 December 2011

From the opening riff that will make the hairs on the back of your neck shiver in anticipation, Cobra Khan’s latest release Adversities, never lets up.

The quintet had already set the bar high with their previous releases, especially the 2008 album Helgorithms, ensuring many dedicated fans here and abroad. Adversities builds nicely on that seminal release to deliver another groundbreaking album.

Incorporating styles similar to Machine Head and early Shihad, Cobra Khan cements their place as masters of the musical universe with the impeccable and intimidating axe attacks of Milon Williams and Hadleigh Donald, which are truly out of this world. The ominous detuned bliss and Kyass-like intensity of Borderlands is particularly effective.

Abundantly saturated and nicely complimented by subtle effects, mix master and bass player extraordinaire Evan Short has found the perfect balance between the face melting industrial blast beats of Ant Davies and Sarah Fox’s tantalizing keyboard melodies.

Cobra Khan excels at weaving their compelling and poetically dark lyrics with killer riffs and unrelenting rhythms into an intoxicating artwork. The beautifully designed packaging does justice to what is assuredly New Zealand’s finest metal/punk release of the year.

The cleverly arranged album gets harder, faster and heavier until track eleven Strung by Staves absolutely annihilates the competition. Cellar Sleep grants a stay of execution until Lead Us again builds momentum with inexorably measured anger. White Fire inspirationally closes out fourteen faultless tracks.

From exquisitely primordial melodies to unyielding and ferocious technical prowess, Adversities is a truly epic release that delivers enough musical explosives to turn your socks into atomic dust. But don’t take my word for it; get your copy today.

Related Acts:

Shihad

Cobra Khan

About the author River Tucker

Hi, My name is River, and I’m a music tutor, multi-instrumentalist (mainly playing drums), and freelance graphic and web designer from Aotearoa, New Zealand. Over the years I’ve worked in numerous bands playing styles ranging from jazz and ska to grunge and metal. I’ve also recorded and self-produced a number of releases consisting of original compositions. This experience, along with an inherent appreciation of music, has helped with my ability to review music for Muzic.NZ. The landscape of our music scene in New Zealand is rich with potential, yet often overshadowed by underutilized talent waiting to be discovered. As a reviewer, I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to highlight some of these emerging voices, which has provided me with an appreciation of the diverse musical tapestry that Aotearoa has to offer. Writing reviews is my way of promoting some of that musical talent to a local and international audience. By inspiring the

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