Album Reviews : Cobalt – Gin

Gin continues the sequence of the great black metal releases coming out of the US in recent times from bands like Nachtmystium, Wolves in the Throne Room and Martriden.

For those unfamiliar with the band, Cobalt is a two-man project consisting of multi-instrumentalist Eric Wunder and vocalist/songwriter/US soldier Phil McSorley. Wunder works on the drum and guitar arrangements while McSorley writes lyrics and records vocals in between tours to Korea and Iraq.

There are great albums but every now and then something comes along which cuts a little deeper and conjures unique and special emotions and this is one of those extraordinary moments. You won’t have to grow into this album – it’s full of hooks and will capture your imagination immediately. You’ll find it difficult to listen to anything else for a while because this album is just too good to be true. The production is perfect, guitar tones are excellent and the riffs are punishing.

The drumming is big and powerful – not just blastbeat after blastbeat which you get on a lot of black metal releases. Some of the drum patterns kind of sound like something you’d hear on a Tool record. They also make good use of some acoustic moments scattered throughout the album. These tracks are positioned ideally and provide a lot more than breathing space or filler. Check out tracks 3 through 5 – the barrage of Arsonry into Throat, a kind of psychedelic acoustic interlude which slowly builds and builds before climaxing into the onslaught of Stomach.

It’s just brilliant! I won’t try to describe each song. This is an inspired piece of work but it’s difficult to describe. McSorley’s lyrics are pretty intense. I’m not sure they mean much to anyone but Phil McSorley himself – there’s plenty of work for the metal geeks who psycho-analyse the lyric sheet to make sense of the metaphors here. Unlike a lot of black metal albums, you’ll find yourself screaming along to some of these songs – ‘Burn me down, shoot me in the chest, let’s fuck one last time on a burning bed’. Classic! The only reason this doesn’t get a perfect 10 for me is the final track – A Starved Horror.

I’ve tried to get into this song and it’s an okay song but it just feels out of place and a bit of an anticlimax to an otherwise exceptional album. However, it’s not really the final track. There is a hidden track which sounds like a very old recording of a chain gang singing a gospel song.

The first time I listened to it I thought I’d never bother listening to it again but I find myself continually waiting for this track and sometimes just listening to that track alone. Every time I listen to it I hear something different – birds, a dog barking. There’s something very haunting and captivating about it and a very intriguing way to finish the album. 9.5/10

Band: Cobalt
Album: Gin
Year: 2009
Genre: Black Metal
Label: Profound Lore
Origin: United States of America
www.myspace.com/stinktown666
www.profoundlorerecords.com

Tracklisting:

1. Gin
2. Dry Body
3. Arsonry
4. Throat
5. Stomach
6. A Clean Well-Lighted Place
7. Pregnant Insect
8. Two-Thumbed Fist
9. The Old Man Who Lied for His Entire Life
10. A Starved Horror

Review by Pete Williams