Cobra the Impaler – Karma Collision
Release Date: 31st May 2024
Label: Listenable Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Metal, Progressive Metal, Sludge.
FFO: Mastodon, Gojira, Anciients, Baroness.
Review By: Eric Wilt
Every once in a while, you come across an album that is so good you want to tell everyone about it. That’s how I felt when I first heard Colossal Gods by Cobra the Impaler in early 2022. The very day I bought it, I made a post on one of the many Facebook metal groups that I follow, lavishing praise on the album and encouraging other members to give it a try. The post was taken down because Cobra the Impaler was the wrong kind of metal for that group, so I told the few metal fans I know personally and bided my time. Towards the end of 2022, your beloved Metal Epidemic made a few posts about albums you may have missed in 2022, and I was able to gush about Colossal Gods once again, this time with no fear of my post being taken down. Fast-forward a little over a year later, and Cobra the Impaler has a new album coming out, and you know I’m going to jump at the chance to review this bad boy!
Hailing from Belgium, Cobra the Impaler plays an aggressive and forward-thinking brand of progressive metal that is influenced by Mastodon (especially their earlier albums) but is in no way an emotionless copy of the Atlanta, Georgian prog metal behemoth’s music. Comprised of guitarist Thijs De Cloedt (Tace DC) who also creates all of the amazing artwork that adorns the band’s albums and singles, drummer Ace Zec who also handled production and mixing, vocalist Manuel Remmerie, guitarist James Falck, and bassist Michele De Feudis, Cobra the Impaler is back with Karma Collision, a sophomore album that deserves to be in just about every metal fan’s collection.
The album is filled with the same kind of masterful songwriting and performances that made Colossal Gods so enjoyable. From heavy chugging to melodic riffing, from clean vocals to aggressive screaming, from intelligent lyrics to peerless musicianship, Cobra the Impaler has included all of the aspects of their music that keeps listeners coming back, and they’ve even upped the ante in heaviness and dynamism. With Karma Collision, Cobra the Impaler has created another unmissable piece of metal art, where everything from the cover illustrations to the lyrics to the music beckons listeners to come back to it time and time again. And if you’ve never heard about them before, give them a shot. I have a feeling you’ll be wanting to tell everyone about Cobra the Impaler too. They are the real deal, and I hope this Karma Collision blows up!
(4.5 / 5)
