This Cobra has bite!!

International sleaze rock quintet COBRA SPELL strike with their debut album, 666, out December 1, 2023 via Napalm Records! Founded in 2019 by up-and-coming guitar phenomenon Sonia Anubis (ex-CRYPTA, ex-BURNING WITCHES), the band’s current lineup is completed by Kristina Vega on vocals, Twitch Streamer Noelle dos Anjos on guitar, Hale Naphtha on drums and Roxy Herrera on bass. Together they have already toured with numerous established bands such as ROSS THE BOSS, ENFORCER and EVIL INVADERS, and released two globally praised EPs, Love Venom (2020) and Anthems Of The Night (2022). With these aces under their studded leather belts, COBRA SPELL now introduce their first full-length, aiming for nothing less than 80s rock ‘n’ roll world domination.

A heavily classic rock inspired intro track paves the way for the energetic first single “S.E.X.”, which is centered around Kristina Vega’s sky-high vocals. The essence of 666 is without a doubt untamable and unapologetic feminine power, refreshingly twisting typical lyrical themes of 80s sleaze metal – particularly present on tracks like “Satan Is a Woman” and “Bad Girl Crew”. COBRA SPELL don’t limit themselves to glam rock and heavy metal clichés with their instrumentation either – from tingling synths to a groovy saxophone solo on “Love = Love”, the band skillfully combines different 80s-inspired soundscapes. COBRA SPELL’s songwriting skills especially shine on catchy future hit “The Devil Inside of Me” and emotional “Fly Away” – the latter representing one of the slower songs on the album. Mesmerizing melodies and absorbing drum patterns are topped off by raspy rock ‘n’ roll vocals on the W.A.S.P.-inspired anthem of runaways and rebels, “Warrior From Hell”, before shredding “High on Love” wraps the album up on an uplifting note. 

COBRA SPELL’s ambitious, smoking hot debut attack, 666, showcases the undisputable talent of the outfit, and is sure to settle the rising rockers’ standing in the scene. These fierce ladies take no prisoners and are now ready to take on all stages worldwide, with a hunger to put on a show that will leave audiences around the globe bewitched, speechless and begging for more.

COBRA SPELL are:
Sonia Anubis – Guitars, Synthesizers
Noelle dos Anjos – Guitars
Kristina Vega – Lead vocals
Hale Naphtha – Drums
Roxy Herrera – Bass

REVIEW

COBRA SPELL are a band that I’ve been following since their 2020 debut EP “Love Venom”, and are one that I’ve enjoyed everything they’ve put out thus far. When HITTEN vocalist, Alexx Panza, left the band in 2022 I was worried for that COBRA SPELL’s promising future had been snuffed before it ever had a proper chance to begin, but those concerns were swiftly cast aside. COBRA SPELL came back with a vengeance, this time as an all-female quintet, which is always great to see.

As for the album cover, I f*cking love it!! It’s so sleazy and cheesy, but it’s absolutely perfect. The colors, the background, etc, it’s all just great. Top marks. Same goes for the band logo as well, COBRA SPELL have been knocking it out of the park in the logo design realm since day one.

Kicking things off, we have the title track “666”, a minute long synth-fused introduction to the album that would sound right at home in an 80s fantasy movie. As a bonafide harlot for synths, this was a wicked start to the record.

Next, the first proper track, “S.E.X.”. Really solid grooving bluesy rhythm work that made me recall classic GUNS N ROSES, and a proper banshee’s wail from Vega kicks things into high gear. It was clear to see why this was one of the lead singles for the album. Accessible, rockin, and a chorus that a crowd could easily sing along too. COBRA SPELL knew exactly what they were doing here, and they did it well. Great riffs throughout, and it’s clear that these gals take a lot of influence from GNR and other Sunset Strip “glam” acts from the 80s, like WASP and early CRUE. Sonia Anubis shows off that she’s a guitar goddess in the making, she’s got mad playing chops. This song had everything, killer riffs, great solo, singable chorus, and a plethora of sexual moaning to end the track and make people wonder “What is that guy listening to?”. To which you’d reply, “It’s COBRA SPELL, dude.”

Following that, we have “Satan is a Woman” (love that title!). More solid riffing to begin this one, and it (I thought) was plain to see that it’s going to be on the heavier side, but it reminded me a bit more of “No More Tears” and “Ozzmosis” era Ozzy (in terms of tempo and vibe). Though, again Sonia Anubis is an absolute stud on the axe. The lyrics snagged a hold of me early on, Vega’s got that Dickinson-esque “storyteller” aspect to her delivery here and it really works on me. Another helluva solo here too! I’ve given all the credit to Anubis thus far, but I think that Anjos deserves praise as well. She’s doing great at keeping that rhythm a-flowing, same goes to Naphtha and Herrera. The band shouts “Hail Satan” in unison at the end of the song, and that’s always hilarious (If Tipper Gore were dead, she’d be rolling in her grave. Good).

After that, a brief interlude sort of track called “Hotline 666”. More solid synthesizers here that had me grooving, and a bit of a spoken word part end this short little bit, and send us right into “Bad Girl Crew”. COBRA SPELL are wearing their glam/sleaze roots proudly here, this sounds straight outta the 80s, and that’s not a bad thing. I love to see NWOTHM expanding and broadening; diversity in metal is always a huge plus. Addicted to the main hooky riff here! Another snappy, catchy chorus too. It was here that I truly began to think that COBRA SPELL had “it” in all the right ways. They’ve got the accessibility to make it into the mainstream, but still heavy and rocking enough to fly that metal flag high and proud.

Closing out the first half of the record, we have “The Devil Inside of Me”. The opening 30 seconds or so of this one felt straight outta speed metal, but with some nice melodies on the guitars thrown in for fun. Love Vega’s vocals on this track, and the remaining band members harmonizing along (or just chanting “666”). This was a proper hook and ladder sort of song, wherein you get hooked quick and the further it goes on, the better the song just gets. Could easily see this one making the airwaves!

Welcome to Side 2 (the back half of the album)! We kick things off with “Fly Away”, a drastic change from the first half of the record. It’s slower and more mellow, with the synths utilized fully here. This one very easily drifts into power ballad territory, and as I always say (once), “Every album needs a ballad.” I adore the guitarwork here, it’s just immaculately done. There’s an incredibly infectious bassline in the background delivered by Herrera, that was such a song-stealer for me. A great solo bookends things, and it was properly done too, gelling in nicely with the flow of the overall track. This one was a banger for sure.

After that we have “Love = Love”. More synths!! Jamming out to this one, I think this is a track that people could find any meaning in. For me, I think this is a queer anthem, something that I believe the metal sphere has lacked behind other genres in. This one won’t be for everyone, but I really dug it, and its message quite a lot. I think in metal we… holy sh*t, they break out a damn saxophone in this one!!! This is great, 10 out of 5 stars no doubt. We need more badass jazz instruments in metal.

After that we have “Love Crime”, where Vega is showing off the full extent of her killer pipes. This track is a frenetically paced and it very much reminded me of someone, but I couldn’t quite place who (DEF LEP?). Stylistically, this one was more in-line with the first half of the record, than the previous two tracks, but that’s good, it shows versatility. Anubis once again shines in an electric solo, one of the strongest on the album.

Then we come to “Warrior From Hell”, the intro of which made me think of SCORPIONS for some reason, but that’s high praise. Once the synths kick in, it recalled me a bit of “Turbo” era JUDAS PRIEST in terms of its vibe and such. It took until about the halfway mark before this one really meshed with me, but after that, the talons had been set in deep and I was hooked.

Our penultimate track for the record was “You’re a Cheater”. Just from reading the title, you can tell what kind of song this is going to be, and that’s not a bad thing at all. It reeks of that pre-glam metal days where bands like CRUE and WASP were just metal bands that liked it sleazy.

Finally, we come to “High on Love” (the longest track on the album, narrowly beating “Fly Away” by one second). Super groovy licks from the Anubis to kick things into high gear. Here, the HITTEN vibes linger from Alexx Panza’s time in the band. I could easily picture this as a HITTEN track, but this is a COBRA SPELL song through and through. It’s got… bite to it

CONCLUSION

We’ve reached the end, and I can fully say that I loved this record. I have a soft spot for that brief sleazy era in metal that was before BON JOVI “Slippery When Wet”, and COBRA SPELL delivered that raw and rough sleaze in spades. Consistently good lyrics throughout (and a steady theme of love and power!), plus a group of young women who are all already masters of their craft. “666” might be the Number of the Beast, but it’s also got my number, because I am definitely picking this up on CD when it drops on 1 December, 2023 from the mighty Napalm Records.

TheNWOTHM Score: 9/10

Pre-Order Here: https://www.napalmrecordsamerica.com/cobraspell

COBRA SPELL
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