Third offspring for Year of the Cobra.
Almost six years after their last release, American duo Amy Tung (bass/vocals, Slower) and Johannes Barrysmith (drums) renewed their partnership with Prophecy Productions for the release of Year of the Cobra (which coincides with the year of the snake in the Chinese calendar).
The band immediately hypnotize us with Full Sails, a first track that is both catchy and rather vaporous, where the singer’s voice wanders and appears from time to time to reinforce the more ethereal tones. Although rather long, the track flies by in an instant and is followed by the distinctly more energetic War Drop, which offers us lively hard rock roots on which the band doesn’t hold back in laying down its thick saturation. The vocal parts are also quite different, more directive, while they soften on Daemonium, where the aggression is translated by disquieting, almost oppressive harmonics that perfectly fit with the occult atmosphere. Although the drums are very present, Alone allows our minds to wander in its quietude as it develops, even creating some more intense waves during certain passages, such as the choruses or the break. The final is also quite striking, and it’s after a very short respite that 7 Years takes over, revealing its darkness that suddenly becomes more playful, creating a contrast that’s quite disturbing at first, but which eventually becomes coherent before becoming heavier for The Darkness, the next composition. Between two heavy eruptions, the sound is much lighter, as on Sleep, where the hectic rhythm lulls us with a warm, almost reassuring sound, making the divide with the darker Prayer even greater, letting the latter track bewitch us then crush us in turn with heavy passages, but also with the melancholy of the keyboards that accompany us to the final.
The return of Year of the Cobra is excellent news for the Doom/Psyche scene, and I’m sure there will be plenty of us to enjoy Year of the Cobra‘s compositions.
85/100