Album Details

• Artist: Black Cobra
• Album: Chronomega
• Label: Southern Lord
• Year of Release: 2009
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2009-09-16

Everyone's favorite devastating duo is back with their third release, and first for Southern Lord. "Chronomega" gives guitarist/singer Lason Landrian and drummer Rafa Martinez another opportunity to melt your defenses with its stripped down but epic take on sludgy, droning, dark ambient metal glory.

Full of the riffs that seem to echo forever, or stuck in a hellacious groove you never want to end, Black Cobra's latest gets off to a somewhat slow start. With riffs from their previous releases in your head, the opening track, "Negative Reversal" might at first seem a letdown. However, the sluggish intro gives was to a massive riff that brings the goofy smile to your face. They're back! "Machine," "Catalyst" and "Strom Shadow" keep the darkfest rolling in ways that actually deepen the band's sound. Black Cobra have always found a way to make a chord or two sound as deep and complex as an orchestra; here they reach that level and go one louder.

"Chronomega" has nine slabs of muscular mayhem and enough reverberating goodness to please the intellect and the air-guitarist alike. Black Cobra seemingly can do no wrong. The bar was set so high by the band's debut that they will always have a hard time improving on it. But here they stray enough out on a limb to at least try, and all their risks paid off.

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