Year of the Cobra : "S/T"

 

The first obvious thing about this duo's 3 albums is that Amy's voice has come a long way. Her performance on the opening track has more nuance. They lumber into a darker depth of doom than I recall from their first two albums. It seems that her time in the Doom Slayer tribute Slower, allowed her to hone her pipes further.  She creates a witchier vibe at times here. There is more of a rock groove to "War Drop". The harmonized vocals are such a part of this song I am having a hard time imagining how this is going to sound live. But I am not going to worry about it too much and enjoy this one. The third song finds them locked into the rock vibes, with a more uptempo energy to it. Though she takes on a brighter almost poppier tone to her voice that almost makes me think of the Runaways. 

The drummer is working overtime on this album to keep things flowing. "Alone" finds the bass line wandering into a more progressive place with its creeping melody. Her vocals fall back into a more introspective soulful mood. This serves as a great example of how she has grown as a singer. The songwriting also holds a wider breadth of dynamics. This might take them further from the doom label but is effective nonetheless. "7 Years" sounds like a lost 90s grunge classic. There is more brooding depth to the aptly titled "The Darkness".  Her vocals provide a counterpoint to the gloom. Amy's bass playing is less about heavy fuzzed-out tones and takes on a more melodic approach that opens up their songwriting on this album. 

"Sleep" is the song that most closely resembles their previous work with a turn back toward the doomier sound they once relied upon. I would say it's a little catchier vocally than their previous Doom releases.  The last song finds them backing off from the heavy again to go into a dreamier melody. This song is more like a ballad than anything I can recall them doing before. It might not be the album's best song but I understand why they are doing it. I will round this one up to a 10 as the songwriting has transcended genres to find them making grooving tunes that could have come from the 90s.   

pst86