COBALT Review of Cobalt’s Slow Forever by Horridhavoc
After being given this assignment I learned that Cobalt has been around for a while, but this is my first experience with them. Since I had never heard of them before I decided to do a little looking into their past so could better understand the band I’m writing about. It’s my understanding that this is their first album in 7 years. Phil McSorely, the founder of Cobalt, left the band, and Slow Forever features the duo of Erik Wunder with Charlie Fell on vocals. I also came to realize that the album Gin, which was released before this album, was a fan-favorite, but that Slow Forever has been no disappointment for their fan base. That is not surprising at all after listening to the album.
The album as a whole is wonderful, but there were definitely some highlights for me. It starts off very strong with “Hunt the Buffalo” and one of my favorites, “Ruiner”. One of the best tracks overall for me is “King Rust”, the tone of which reminds me of a heavier Tool. And what can I say about that bad ass bass intro to “Cold Breaker” other than it was BAD ASS! Lyrically, “Elephant Graveyard” was also at the top of my list on this album. “Final Will” is yet another song with an insane bass intro and the awesomeness continues throughout the rest of the song- it was yet another that I really enjoyed. Then we have “Slow Forever”- this one, much like “King Rust” reminded me a lot of a harder, darker Tool for a little over half the song, and then it explodes into something far more intense. “Slow Forever” was tied with “King Rust” as far as being my favorite on this album.
As far as first impressions go, this album definitely made a good one with me. I would recommend anyone who hasn’t listened to this band to give them a try. I can say with certainty that I will be going back and giving their other albums a listen as well. (9/10)
