To Hell

Disclaimer: Don’t expect from me a particularly detailed review on the most technical aspects and the instrument parts on this record, I´m writing here purely in the perspective of an ardent heavy metal aficionado, so expect a lot of adjectives full of emotional appreciation/distaste and little detail on the technical parts, in this or any of my reviews. You have been warned.

A little retrospective: “To Hell” is the second output by the peruvian heavy/speed metal band Cobra and, in my personal opinion, it’s their best musical effort to the moment. Despite Lethal Strike was their first professional release (since 2005 they have been producing a couple of demos) I think it didn’t show the significant progress that the band has made so far as musicians: while Lethal Strike is from 2011 it was composed mostly of re-recorded old songs from their demos (except for the whole new theme “Denim Attack”). Even though a very effective debut, Lethal Strike doesn’t hold to the fresh and raw energy of this almost entirely new effort of this heavy metal act that comes from the land of the Incas. “To Hell” truly is an album that exudes traditional heavy metal(specially the NWOBHM) and hard rock influences, while listening to it some names come to my mind: Judas Priest, Accept, Iron Maiden, Tank, Satan, Raven, Holocaust, Running Wild, Manowar, Saxon, Manilla Road, AC/DC, Deep Purple and so.

About the record: this album start with Beyond The Curse, a very epic intro: effective harmonies, solid bass and with precise and devastating drum pounding, this is one hell of an instrumental introduction. The “proper song” begins with a fitting heavy metal scream and goes strong till the end. The lyrics of this song are about an slaughter and an improbable survivor who swore to avenge himself and his kin through the practice of the black arts and demonic pacts, a theme that is kind of a linear story through the album. The other 2 songs inspired by these thematic are To Hell and Inner Demon, both in my opinion are the best songs of the album, both are a solid discharges of demon driven sulfuric speed metal: true hymns of fire, revenge and pure unadulterated fast heavy metal. Personally I think both songs truly exemplifies the band musical progress, both have a good structure, with amazing catchy riffs and killer solos, hell screams and catchy chorus. All the instruments/musicians denote a significant performance improvement in relation with what we can perceive in their early musical recordings.

While half of the songs in this record are demon driven heavy metal there is also an outlaw lifestyle vibe to it : songs like Beware My Wrath, Danger Zone, When I Walk the Streets, and Rough Riders are the strong representatives of the whole dirty denim & leather outlaw thematic, they are the more rock n roll oriented songs. While listening to these songs Deep Purple or AC/DC comes to my mind, some influence of the more rock oriented doom metal acts(may be Black Sabbath or St. Vitus), and definitively the rocker side of Judas Priest. While many of the songs have a truly rock n roll feeling I have to say that the harmonies in many of them scream NWOBHM(specially Iron Maiden), which, in my opinion, is the main influence in this record. Personally I thinks this combination of sounds or influences fucking rocks, in fact I think it is not contradictory at all: is mostly complementary, gives variety to what otherwise would be another dull record trying to copy by numbers the NWOBHM sound. The only song that stand alone, thematically speaking, is Fallen Soldier, a great speed metal tune with an anti-war thematic on the soldier’s perspective(you could see why I think this have a noticeable Tank vibe to it).

Probably my only 2 complains about this record are that Beyond the Curse may have worked better if the instrumental intro were made a separate track from the “main song”, the other complain is that I liked a little better the Fallen Soldier’s version in the Split record “Poison In The Bones” that the one in this album, but that’s pretty much all. Finally I must say that if I haven’t give this album a higher rate is because a couple of minimal flaws, but most importantly because I think this is not the band best effort yet, I think they have yet to create their best output, I still have high hopes for this group of ardent traditional heavy metal faith defenders. To end this review I just want to say that if you are into NWOBHM and early 80’s hard rock and like to listen to new bands that plays raw traditional metal then picking/listening this record is probably a very good choice.

Musical reviews based on numerical criteria are always hard to write. A critique, by itself, is highly subjective and assigning a number to rate the effort, emotion and creativity of any group of musicians is a misleading task at best. In that sense, I prefer to say this particular record is among the best things I’ve heard in the NWOBHM, Heavy Metal in general and NWOBHM-inspired bands.

To begin with, the sound, wild, melodic and well arranged and composed, shows the influence of NWOBHM as a whole among the bands’ musicians and incorporates the energetic and trampling style of bands such as Diamond Head, Satan, Blitzkrieg, Deep Purple and especially Judas Priest. Other bands have also left their print to a lesser degree, so to speak, throughout this marvelous piece of musicianship like Saxon, Battleaxe, Manowar and even Riot. Yet one can also feel the influence of the wonderful 8-bit music from classic games such as Rockman and Biker Mice from Mars.

Having said this, to state that Iron Maiden is the only, or the most significant influence, shows the reviewer in question lacks a deeper knowledge of heavy metal and music in general. Moreover if the review inevitably includes a numeral ranking, to simply compare a band with only a handful others is misleading. Just like a researcher has to read many books in order to grasp a more global and detailed point of view of the subject of its interest, in order to write musical reviews one is compelled to listen and explore many bands, so as to make its critique as objective and all-encompassing as possible.

As I have already said, the number of influences Cobra shows demonstrates the musicians in questions have created an original style based on the best the aforementioned (and others) bands have to offer. What stands out in this album is the originality, honesty, dedication and taste for true old school heavy metal (half way between rock and heavy) all of the band members show in the recording.

Throughout the record, the guitar sound, complex and melodic, without losing roughness and speed, stand out as one of their most unique elements and both guitar players deserve commendation. The voice, screechy and potent delivers a much needed break between the rocking of the instruments. The occasional squeak does not overshadow the singing, which suddenly transforms into a highly pitched and professional falsetto that does not disappoint. The bass stands out as a rare example of a decent-to-high level of technicality one seldom finds in heavy metal. It blends itself perfectly with the rest and serves as a compass counter-weighting and complimenting the fast tempo of the guitars and the classical rock inspired drumming. Finally the drumming is solid, fresh and gives cohesion and coherence to the chaotic melody the other instruments produce.

The most original songs, the ones that portray Cobras’ studded and whiskey marinated leather sound, are Fallen Soldier, Rough Riders, To Hell and Inner Demon. A quick glance to the song of the albums’ title will help to make sense of everything written so far. To Hell stands out an overwhelming barrage of heavy metal sound with Judas Priest inspired riffing similar to British Steel with Diamond Head-like tempos. Every single second denotes strength and dedication.

On the down side, I must admit Beyond the Curse should not have been the opening track. I would say is the least original track and it is more of a recycling of previous sounds the band has so far produced. It should have been the last song and the Outro and could possibly deter some listeners from exploring the rest of the album. Cobras’ trademarks so to speak are fast songs and not so much lengthy overtly complex tracks and they should focus on that.

All in all, the recording is wonderful one, full of memorable songs that will make the listener headband instantly. I highly recommend To Hell to anyone who appreciates true heavy metal and it can be listened both by beginners and more seasoned record collectors. It is a pleasant surprise in a sea of clones and below average bands that prefer to adhere to conventionalisms and dare not to be whom they truly are.

94/100.

Out of all the reviews I’ve written, this is only the second (well, third) time I’ve decided to review a heavy metal group. It’s not that I sparingly enjoy the genre because I love it. It’s just that I feel that I needed more on my “resume” (per se) before I could objectively describe a heavy metal album. Unfortunately, it will be difficult to do with “To Hell”. “To Hell” gets my spirits up as I venture into it and realize I’ve grown as a listener and as a differentiator of certain metal genres I was previously lacking in knowledge. Well, “To Hell” starts off to a decent start but quickly my hope is lost as they lean toward the style of hard rock. I truly believed I would be listening to a refreshing album but of course things aren’t always as they seem.

“Beyond the Curse” has an extensive intro of instruments building into something that will be mysteriously grand. Honestly, I wasn’t too disappointed as it felt like a path I have not taken in such a long time. Immediately, afterwards Iron Maiden worship became a little obvious. You start to hear the trademark galloping riffs along to Augusto Morales’ bass playing reminiscent of Steve Harris. When these became elements to the first track I felt like I could sit back and relax without worrying too much. When “Fallen Soldier” came around I was even more pleasantly surprised. They revoked most of the adulation and started to play more originally-based material where I could say, “This is how Cobra sounds”. Of course since Iron Maiden is too influential Augusto Morales was conservative about his playing. The only other element reminiscent of them was the rhythm guitar as it approached closer to the solo.

“Danger Zone” was a completely different root than both its predecessors. First, there was “Beyond the Curse” with its lively and galloping nature. Then, “Fallen Soldier” came around with its fusion of heavy metal and speed metal riffs. “Danger Zone” did the same as “Fallen Solder” but ironically its pace fell as it was a fusion of heavy metal and hard rock. This is where I started to question myself. At first, I thought it was cool because in three songs I’ve heard something completely different. But as I kept continuing track after track, heavy metal was slowly receding and hard rock was protruding more and more.

As this was happening I kept thinking to myself, “How do Peruvians write something that sounds like the southern part of America?” (No pun intended). Seriously, I was baffled and I started thinking about Harley’s and Rick Perry. Cobra began to remind me of Dangerous Toys. The difference is I see the latter as the epitome of the hair metal movement (I detest this trend but for some reason I enjoy them). Cobra is just leftover scraps that nobody wants. They represented themselves well but once you get to know them you realize you regretted your decision. Sorry, I just don’t like hard rock (at least what it means in modern times). The only other occasion you hear a prominent return of heavy metal is on their finale, “Inner Demon”. But the damage is done and I cannot idly sit and appreciate what I’m hearing.

I apologize for the insults but so much remained unsaid. I will rarely review groove and symphonic metal or hard rock because I have nothing nice to say about it. This came as unintentional, as I’ve mentioned, I thought I was in for a complete and refreshing listen of heavy metal. In positive news, I do enjoy the album art done by Alan Corpse. It’s a little cliché but badass at the same time.

Originally written for Metal-Temple.com