Last year Kobra and the Lotus released their first part of the Prevail album, of which you can read our review here. Now Prevail II is out and I again feel privileged to be able to review this second album as well! The album immediately is off to a good start beginning with the earlier released single Losing My Humanity, this track builds further on where Prevail I stopped. The song has the guitars and fierce vocals that bring us the all-too-familiar Kobra and the Lotus sound. The force and aggressiveness of this opening song immediately sets the right mood. I can understand why this song has been put at the beginning of the tracklist!
The beautiful Let Me Love You dials down on aggressiveness and fierceness without taking away the familiar Kobra the Lotus sound. It sounds more like a heavy rock song then it is a metal song per se. This is perhaps the power of Kobra and the Lotus and in particular with these last two records, there are quite a few variations between different styles of music, but switching between those styles sometimes happens without me actually being fully aware of it. I mean, I obviously did notice it, but all the songs blend perfectly together and it actually adds a lot of flavor to the record rather than diminishing it. The next song called Ribe is an acoustic intermezzo which connects the songs Let Me Love You with the next track, My Immortal. Ribe takes you out of all the guitar and drum violence for a few minutes, which I will address later on, and calms you to give you time to charge up for the beautiful My Immortal. This song in some ways builds on the foundation of Let Me Love You. Only this time there is more variation and the song builds up constantly eventually leading up to the beautiful high notes of Miss Kobra Paige herself. These well-controlled and clear high-pitched vocals show how versatile and talented Kobra really is.
Human Empire shows itself as being a true metal track to the bone. The guitar and drums are absolutely phenomenal here and the fierceness of the vocals again shows its face! After this violence follow two straightforward rock songs that don’t really jump out but are necessary and beautiful nonetheless even if it were only due to the fact that they again show how versatile Kobra and the Lotus as a band really is. I love how they show time and time again that they make the music that they want to make rather than thinking about whether it’s metal enough for some people.
Modern Day Hero is the next track. This song is really positive, it makes me feel good and I immediately want to fight for righteousness! Something that really fits Kobra and the Lotus and the reason they make music. You can read about this further in this interview which we did last year with Kobra herself! In You’re Insane the band goes really all-out! This is metal like it’s supposed to be, straight to the point and heavy! At least that is my opinion! The fierce and powerful vocals of Kobra are back once again and she really gives her all! As a listener I was completely blown away by her power! With White Water, the ballad on the record, the band again shows their vulnerable side. The song is really beautiful and is without a doubt, like ballads have been so many times, my favorite song on the album. The classic 80s guitar solo at the end really makes the difference! That’s how a powerful rock ballad, with little bit of metal must be! Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain has been covered with grace. The band really gives color to the original song and makes the song dynamic! This coming from a guy that doesn’t even like covers! Great job Kobra and the Lotus!!!
The acoustic version of Let Me Love You is the bonus track. To me this is the cherry on the cake. Where the original track is only vulnerable in the chorus, this acoustic rendition is vulnerable the whole way through and translates the feeling of love and positivity even more than its electric counterpart!
I can only say that Prevail II is a great continuation of the path that Kobra and the Lotus is on right now! I really hope that the band continues to do this with all their positivity and love!
Thanks Kobra and the Lotus!
We also mentioned Kobra and the Lotus in part 14 of Promoting Bands, which you can read here.
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