Review: Cobra Spell – 666

Napalm Records (December 1^st 2023)

Reviewer: Jason Hopper

The band Cobra Spell has had somewhat of a rocky start since their inception in 2019. In four years, the band has gone though one vocalist, one bassist, two guitarists, and three drummers…and that’s just the studio recordings of various singles and two EPs. Other members have contributed to touring. The one consistency has been founding guitarist Sonia Anubis. With a line-up constantly in flux, it would seem that would be the contributing factor to a lack of material over the years, but Sonia and the band persevered and ‘666‘ is the fruits of their labor.

For the unfamiliar, Cobra Spell is a throwback to the early 80s metal bands like W.A.S.P., Quiet Riot, and Mötley Crüe with its mix of leather, riffs, and faux Satanism. Unlike those bands, all the members here are female. I first heard of the band with their 2022 track ‘Addicted to the Night’. Then within a few months news came that the line-up fell apart and I believed the band to be done. They returned to the scene with the single ‘S.E.X.’ which I found to be underwhelming. I’m all for Aerosmith-type double entendres, but the track was a little too on the nose and the outro, with its moans and groans, was excessive. The reason I wanted to review the album was due to the second single. ‘The Devil Inside of Me’ was more to my liking, wearing its Iron Maiden influences on its sleeve and those catchy gang vocals in the bridge and chorus.

The album didn’t impress when it first began. By looking at the length of all the tracks in my iTunes, I realized that Tracks 1 and 4 were simply intros. They sandwich opener ‘S.E.X’ and ‘Satan is a Woman’. The latter has a mid-tempo, heavy-blues feel. It’s a decent track, but nothing spectacular and feels more like a filler. Track 5’s ‘Bad Girl Crew’ also has a similar feel and it was at this point that I started to worry that this album would be disappointing. Track 6 is where we find ‘The Devil Inside of Me’ and it’s a welcome shot in the arm from what had come before.

The next two tracks are not what I was expecting. ‘Fly Away’ is a power ballad with very little power. It seemed to be stuck in first gear, maintaining a rhythm that does not change or lead anywhere. This makes the song drag and feel flat. Next, there is a huge thematic shift with mid-range rocker ‘Love = Love’. The overarching theme for the album is Satan and Hell. To have a song with pro-LGBT lyrics feels out of place here. It sounds like it was written for the Indigo Girls and is quite a thematic shift. Without any liner notes, I would guess that it was written by someone outside of the band or at least an outside contributor. With all that said, the song is anthemic, has a tight gang vocal chorus, and is well-structured.

The last few tracks are where you will find the strongest songs. These tracks should have been spread out, but at least it cranks the album up a few notches towards its conclusion. ‘Love Crime’ is a four on the floor blaster that is great to crank while driving down the highway.  ‘Warrior from Hell’ borrows the melody line from KISS’s ‘War Machine’ in the verses and has the same melody line, so if you know that song you know it’s thick and groovy.  After these two great tracks comes a song that has grown to be my favorite on the album.  You’re a Cheater’ is a catchy hard rocker with just the right amount of swagger. It seemed to get better the more I listened to it, despite having a weak second verse (I have a pet peeve with lyrics that don’t rhyme). I love the way frontwoman Kris Vega structures her vocal inflections in the chorus.  It has a chord progression that been done countless times before but the little touches the band adds differentiates it enough to make it fresh and exciting.

In the end, half of this album has some can’t miss material. The other half is a give or take depending on personal preferences. I would recommend checking the album out online for yourselves to decide if you should buy select singles or the whole album. Just be sure to check out every track as the album finishes strong.

Tracklist:

1. 666 (Intro)
2. S.E.X.
3. Satan is a Woman
4. Hotline 666 (Intro)
5. Bad Girl Crew
6. The Devil Inside of Me
7. Fly Away
8. Love = Love
9. Love Crime
10. Warrior from Hell
11. You’re a Cheater
12. High on Love