Black Cobra�s three song EP from last year was a brutal slab of aggressive sludge, hardcore, and metal that was over before you knew it. Bestial, their first full length, delivers so well that it makes the EP seem weak and listless by comparison. The raw demo sound is replaced by a full, well-rounded production that brings out the best in Black Cobra. There�s not a moment where the two-piece, who�ve played in Secret Order of Tusk, Gamera, Acid King, 16, and Cavity, lets you catch your breath. Even the slower, sludgier songs have a fierce intensity. Along with the Cavity influence, there�s a bit of Big Business, Floor, Dove, and Torche to their approach � barrel forward, sucker punching the listener along the way. Black Cobra�s self-titled EP really only hinted at how devastating the band is. With Bestial, they�ve conjured up something awesome. Along with releases by the likes of Lair of the Minotaur, Facedowninshit, and Akimbo, 2006 is shaping up to be a great year for skull crushing metal.

Black Cobra�s first full-length, a heavy slab of doom and sludgecore, sees guitarist/vocalist Jason Landrian and drummer Rafael Martinez not only paying tribute but contributing to a burgeoning scene of nihilistic challengers to both traditionalism and cleanliness. The two fight their way through assumed demons with reckless abandon, one possessing an axe capable of producing riffs that can rid any man�s ballsack of the tiniest and most impenetrable of hairs with one simple, crushing note (think of Mastodon�s �Iron Tusk�), and the other bitchslapping foes with sticks that sound so full and weighty that if they were to be made human would instantly rise to the top of porn stardom based on size alone.

Bestial is one dangerous collection of music, proving that not every sonic aesthetic has been recycled and abused, and as recycled and abused as the phrase �expect the unexpected� continues to be, it applies more to this album than any I�ve listened to this year. I thought I was in for 24/7 mayhem, but Black Cobra takes a slight break and smokes out on the instrumentally contemplative-sounding �El Doce de Octubre,� a song that not only incorporates a lot of weird and unexpected pauses but ups the sludge as well. While many bands producing similar sounds tend to elongate certain passages to seemingly no end, Black Cobra cuts the fat off of unnecessary tendons and keeps the album primitively absent of decoration. Bestial sways to and fro with a personalized rhythm that demands a unique response from listeners, and its succinctness allows for a greater accessibility than many of its peers.

~Read reviews of this album?
~Post your own review?