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Released on March 25, 2016 via Profound Lore Records
Cobalt, like any black metal band that’s diverged from the norm associated with most early black metal bands, has a unique style. They didn’t always start out doing the strum-heavy, rhythmic rock drumming tom-tom drum heavy style that they utilize these days. Their début album, War Metal, was a little more traditional, in spite of the fact that they began experimenting with the black metal template as early as the aforementioned album’s inception. Now, two albums later, their fourth release is riveting audiences all across the seven seas, with Profound Lore Records having a banner year mainly due to two glorious records thus far, that in Grave Miasma’s Endless Pilgrimage and Cobalt’s mighty Slow Forever, the latter being the subject of this review.
Their album, Gin, was a cataclysm in a period of metal docility. It was the first of its rare breed of uncategorizable black metal euphony. It was wholly original. Before that, album two, Eater of Birds, was even more experimental, but you would have gotten the sense that the band had not fully arrived at their signature style. Following-up Gin was a tall order, and Cobalt refused to rest on its laurels, recording a follow-up album in haste. Instead, they carefully concocted, then crafted Slow Forever with merciless intent. That artistic vision shows quite readily in this latest release.
So, Slow Forever has few ambient parts and few full metal jacket black metal blastbeat portions, but that doesn’t mean that the record will not make you rock. Cobalt doesn’t play at thrash pace often, in fact, they do so rarely. As mentioned, they rely on a tom-tom bash heavy rhythmic drumming style that is as conducive to headbanging as any metal album will prompt. Guaranteed!
Highlight tracks are album intro ‘Hunt the Buffalo’ and merciless rager, ‘Elephant Graveyard’. In all actuality, there are no hiccups here. The band rock, strum, tremolo riff to levels of pure insanity. Get this album if conventional black metal has worn you thin.
Chord transitions are so finely wrought on Slow Forever that you’ll air guitar along, strumming like a madman. The up-picks and down-picks may create the impression of absolute complexity, but playing the riffs actually seems fun, requiring some practice. The band still play a somewhat progressive style that merges rock and black metal touches. The occasional rung notes are therefore more subtle but not entirely lacking of significance. The production is top-notch and sounds similar to that of the band’s prior albums.
Since the band’s inception, they have released quality album after quality album. Sure, Slow Forever, employs a risky runtime of eighty-five minutes, and quality is hard to keep consistently throughout such a length of time for an album, and though Cobalt could have trimmed some fat from the slower sections, they remain as blisteringly brilliant on the most menial ones. This is one for the ages. This is my favorite album of 2016 so far! This will also rank as one of my favorite albums of all time.
I haven’t rocked to an album this intensely since my love of metal began. No, they don’t play half-assed tremolo pick from start to finish blast end-to-end prototypical black metal. This isn’t second wave hackery. This is a unique album, with only the excessive runtime as a minor technicality. If you stop short of listening to this album in full, you will not cease to enjoy it entirely upon doing so. The rhythms will stay in your head and you will tap your toe and bop your head to riffs permanently lodged in your memories. The vocals and lyrics are intense and the hidden track is nary a waste of time. With Hemingway in the rear-view mirror of the band’s conceptual work, Cobalt prove to be a worthy tribute to the great writer. Slow Forever? Not entirely. If you don’t rock to this, you will have been in a vegetative state from the neck down. Listen to this monumental record and you will not regret it.
