CobraKill is a heavy metal & hard rock band from Germany formed in 2020, releasing the three-song demo ‘CobraKill’ later the same year. Influenced by the sleaze metal and rock evolution of the mid to late eighties, CobraKill (in their own words) is all about “hairspray, make-up, leather and rivets”. The band’s debut album ‘Cobratör’ was released in 2022, with its sophomore album ‘Serpent’s Kiss’ a 2024 release.
Inspired by the likes of Motley Crue, WASP, Alice Cooper and Kiss, CobraKill is hellbent on bringing the sound of eighties sleaze metal and rock to the modern day – and boy have the five-piece outfit from Germany done just that! Germany, not really known for its sleaze metal output, is a renowned and long-established exporter of thrash and power metal – now boasting a band featuring a forty-year-old sound originating from over five and a half thousand miles away! CobraKill – Nick Adams (vocals), Randy White (guitar), Tommy Gun (guitar), Crippler Ramirez (bass) and Toby Ventura (drums) – are on fire with their new album, galloping through all twelve songs on offer in forty six highly exhilarating minutes…
…opening with the incredibly energetic ‘Above The Law’ – the band very quickly into their stride. Powering forth with a phenomenal purpose and intent, CobraKill plant its feet firmly on the monitor of old-school heavy metal, sending the worldwide mosh pits into fucking overdrive! What a blistering opening salvo, the band hitting harder than a jackhammer smashing through concrete, ‘Serpent’s Kiss’ roaring on with the rockier but nonetheless emphatic ‘Bazooka’. Pounding the ground hard, CobraKill shake buildings to their foundations with a barrage of bombastic sleaze come hair come glam come hard rock – yes readers, the German five-piece are all of the above! Oh, and metal too – don’t forget the metal! Entering the fray, ‘Concrete Jungle’ brings with it a massive eighties feel – a feeling that I was a part of, ’cause back in the day I was a teenager during the eighties, growing up listening to the likes of Motley Crue, Cinderella, Ratt, Skid Row, and Twisted Sister rebel against the world, parents screaming “turn that racket down”. But that racket was our Holy Grail, our path to euphoria – and besides, it was fucking great music! And any band that has one foot in the past just like CobraKill do, are already onto a winner with me. So come on CobraKill – let’s rock!
And rock we do, the band maintaining the phenomenal energy level ‘Serpent’s Kiss’ began with – ‘Razor Blade’ oozing sleaze and sass in abundance, shaking its ass with a mighty swagger to put many of rocks pioneering bands in the shade! CobraKill have matured and grown up in the four years since I first heard them, the band’s brand of hard rock more emphatic, dramatic and all-consuming than ever – proving the old adage that “you get better with age” is most definitely one of the most accurate phrases ever said! The intensity of the album is overwhelming – one could even say monstrous, but that’d be a prophetic, fortune-telling statement, as the band marches on with ‘Monstrous’, and the biggest party anthem aura you could ever wish for! The feeling of happiness pouring outta ‘Monstrous’ is well, err monstrous – there’s just no other word to describe it! The band are thoroughly enjoying themselves, the sense of enjoyment flowing from ‘Monstrous’ is eargasmic to say the least – clean up the crew to the middle aisle, please!
So what more is there to say about the album? Lots more I hope, for we’re only half way through – the band stepping on the gas to roar down the autobahn at high speed courtesy of the highly head bang-able ‘Same Ol’ Nasty Rock N’ Roll’. Talk about pedal to the metal, the band have pressed it so hard it’s gone through the fucking floor, ‘Same Ol’ Nasty Rock N’ Roll’ displaying more energy than the Sun emits every day! There’s just no stopping CobraKill when they’re in this mood, the band storming on with the underwear-wetting ‘Torture Me’. And an eargasmic level that’s just become orgasmic! ‘Torture Me’ is fucking glorious, the band taking on a forty-year-old sound and making it all their own – just imagine if CobraKill were around during the eighties heyday for rock revolution, they’d be one of the biggest bands around at that time, if not the biggest! They’re certainly one of the biggest right now, forging a path through the rock hierarchy to reach the top – ‘Hungry Heart’ stamping the ground harder than any other song heard so far. The level of menace is scary, the ground shuddering under the sheer weight of ‘Hungry Heart’, walls shaking and buildings crumbling as the band stride on by with magnificent boldness!
All bar three of the twelve songs on offer clock in at under four minutes in length, paving the way for a fast-moving, unforgiving rock rampage – ‘Seventeen’ the longest song on ‘Serpent’s Kiss’ clocking in at just seven seconds shy of reaching the five-minute mark! And the band add soft rock to the mix here too, ‘Seventeen’ melding together every style of rock the band have in their vast arsenal – an arsenal that just gets bigger and more explosive! I’m telling ya, there’s no silent time when CobraKill are in town – ‘Silent Running’ is anything but silent! But hang on a goddamn minute – I’m sure I’ve heard this one before! I have! ‘Silent Running’ is a cover of the Mike & The Mechanics classic from 1985 – nineteen eighty fucking five! Where any of CobraKill even born back then? I was already fifteen and listening to many of Hard Rock’s pioneering bands, along with trying to ignore my older sister’s pop music booming out of her stereo in the bedroom next to mine! CobraKill do a fantastic job here, increasing the pace, tempo and punch to make it (almost) their own – and honestly, if you didn’t know it was a cover you’d probably think it was a CobraKill original!
And enter the most innuendo-laden song title the album has to offer – ‘Ride My Rocket’ echoing the kinda smut drenched titles and lyrics from the early days of sleaze, hair and glam rock come metal! The band are punching hard here, very hard – delivering a mighty swagger bolder than even the boldest swagger of rock legends Aerosmith – CobraKill even bringing a little Def Leppard to the fore as well, the band blending together the American and British rock styles. Back in the mid-eighties, my rock mix tapes – anyone remember those – was full of songs by the likes of Whitesnake, Van Halen, Kiss, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and (the aforementioned) Ratt and Motley Crue. And if CobraKill had been around back then, they’d have definitely made it onto my tapes as well. Bringing ‘Serpent’s Kiss’ to a close, ‘Velvet Snakeskin’ is the fastest song on offer, delivering a head bang ability like no other has – CobraKill at full throttle, racing on to a finish with the highest levels of purpose and intent.
Overall, delivering plenty of sleaze, hair and glam rock elements, ‘Serpent’s Kiss’ is an intense non-stop barrage of bombastic hard rock and metal.
TRACKLIST
Above The Law
Bazooka
Concrete Jungle
Razor Blade
Monstrous
Same Ol’ Nasty Rock N’ Roll
Torture Me
Hungry Heart
Seventeen
Silent Running
Ride My Rocket
Velvet Snakeskin
CobraKill: Facebook
Release Year: 2024
Label: Frontiers Music s.r.l.
Category: Album
Country: Germany
Reviewed by Iron Mathew for Frenzy Fire and Metal-Roos.
