When it comes to Kobra And The Lotus, I am relatively new to the band. Even though the band already has three full-length albums under their belt. Prevail I is this third album. The first song on the album has a really familiar name, it is called Gotham, named after the city where Batman lives. If you listen clearly, you can even hear the Batman tune, although the guitars are a lot heavier in this one! When the vocals start immediately after that, it becomes inescapably clear to me what an extraordinary lead woman Kobra Paige is. At first glance, her vocals aren’t really that special, you might say, yeah, I’ve heard this before, but these vocals are so incredibly powerful that you immediately know what this band stands for. Because that’s what goes through my head when listening to this. You can’t compare the vocals with anything else I have heard in this genre. They are unique, granted, at times they are somewhat simplistic like many of the catchy choruses on the album. Now, I don’t mean simplistic as in not well thought off, no I just mean catchy. The choruses remain in your head, so that if you go to a live show, you can easily sing along with them.
The second song TriggerPulse starts with some heavy guitars. Again, just like the first song the chorus is catchy, almost a little pop like. But the song is accompanied by a really strong rhythm section and a very powerful guitar riff, which makes it a full-blown metal song. When listening to the next song on the album You Don’t Know you can hear that it was meant to be the first single. This song was also my first acquaintance with Kobra And The Lotus and one an acquaintance that has been! If you, upon hearing that song for the first time, only pay attention to the drums than you might think you are listening to Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2 but when those heavy guitars come into play, you can clearly hear that it’s Kobra And The Lotus. Despite that it is not a typical Kobra And The Lotus song. The next song Specimen X (The Mortal Chamber) is a very heavy song with tight guitar riffs and outstanding drums, this song is easily one of the best songs on this album. Kobra Paige is a force to be reckoned with, with her threatening and powerful vocals. Less prominent is the ballad Light Me Up. But the song does exactly what it needs to do, it breaks the heaviness of the album by being a beautiful intermezzo.
The next song, Manifest Destiny, is with some distance the best track on the album if you ask me. Vocally, lead singer Kobra Paige shifts into a higher gear! In the chorus she uses all her vocal capabilities and opens all of her registers. What amazing vocals this woman has. The song Victim is about being responsible for your own actions, I only agree to this to some extent, but I am not here to advocate life lessons, but to review a good album. Anyway, this song is heavy and transfers the message very well. Check The Phyrg is kind of an different song. Why? Well, the song is completely instrumental and it has a lot of guitar violence! It is pointless to me to try and describe everything that is happening in this song, because there is so much going on and it’s truly epic. Despite the catchy chorus again from the next song Hell On Earth this song is the most lugubrious song on the album. The song has a lot of threatening vocals and a very threatening tone overall. Again, there are these very tight guitar riffs and outstanding vocals. The variations in the vocals fit this song very well. While Hell On Earth is very dark, the title track Prevail is really positive and patriotic. It’s a nice positive closing song on this nice album.
If I have to describe Kobra And The Lotus, then I would say it’s accessible metal for people that don’t listen to metal very often, but also for true metalheads. It’s a wonderful band that deserves the attention it gets, because if their live shows are as good as their studio material, then people are in for a very good time!!!
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