Review by Nekrist on April 18, 2024.

Cobalt is a name unknown to many, but one that silently screams to be one of the best modern extreme metal bands. I met this North American group through what many already know is my favorite metal band of all time, from the supernatural entity known by the name of Lord Mantis.

At that time I was searching by land, sea and air for anything as close as possible to the sound of Lord Mantis, since I could never overcome the impact that that enigmatic and perverse band had on my musical journey. strong>Cobalt was one of the names that appeared as recommended and I also realized that it had the presence of Charlie Fell (who does not participate in this album) but contributed to the peak masterpiece “Pervertor”, which I also recently reviewed here. Everything was clear, it was mandatory for me to give a proper listen to Cobalt's recording career, it had all the ingredients that I was eager to continue tasting, black metal and sludge. However, I did not find a “clone” of Lord Mantis, but rather something sublime and surprising, a entity that had its own character that was disconcerting to me. Why disconcerting? Because I was bathed and blessed in ecstasy after listening to this record.

The album is a true experience, when you think that the music has already reached its peak, suddenly it blows your mind again with a totally unexpected change, with a new musical resource that you would never have come from even far away. The amount of nuances that this musical work has is incredible, from intersections of purely acoustic and ambient passages that give a nostalgic, introspective and even “folky” touch as in the song 'Arsonry', to what in my opinion can be interpreted as a “southern” feeling of American folk music to my ears. As if what was said above were not interesting enough for you, we have a fierce and lunatic vocal delivery by the two members of the group at that moment, practically tribal chants that provide a breath of fresh air with a ritualistic atmosphere, in which in a song like 'Pregnant Insect' a female voice emerges among the sonic cataclysm of Cobalt. Cobalt's sound is often compared to the early works of the beloved by many and hated by many progressive band Tool, and the truth is that it is not a far-fetched comparison, also the influences of more metallic punk frequently appear, to the after all, sludge metal is an amalgamation of hardcore punk and doom metal. The more black metal-inclined beginnings of this group can also be perceived, with guitars playing a frenetic tremolo picking that creates heroic and even epic melodies in a song like 'A Starved Horror'.

Many say that metal has already been fully explored, that everything has been said and done, and that there is nothing worth listening to in modern times, but bands like Cobalt make those who think that way choke up in their own ignorance, they are not blind, but they are unable to see and explore what so many artists have to propose and delight us with incredible sonic works. This was just a humble review, with which I hope that those who read it will give efforts like this album a chance, and let themselves be carried through a journey that they could never have imagined.

Rating: 10 out of 10