{"id":55627,"date":"2017-10-02T21:29:41","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T02:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=55627"},"modified":"2017-10-02T21:29:41","modified_gmt":"2017-10-03T02:29:41","slug":"kobra-and-the-lotus-prevail-i-music-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2017\/kobra-and-the-lotus-prevail-i-music-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Kobra And The Lotus | Prevail I"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska<\/span>
\n– Sr. Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Gone are the days when having a frontwoman was a rarity for a Rock band, and when the boldest female pioneers of the genre were labeled \u201ccaricatures of male rockers\u201d by narrow-minded music scribes. Now there\u2019s an entire league of Female-fronted Rock and Metal bands, one of them being the Canadian quartet Kobra And The Lotus under the leadership of Kobra Paige.<\/p>\n

Kobra And The Lotus are classified as anything from Hard Rock to Power Metal, each of the labels being partially true as their sound combines elements of all cognate genres. Their newest output, entitled Prevail I<\/em> and intended to be the first part of the double album, won\u2019t change this status quo for sure. There\u2019s no drastic evolution to the band\u2019s style this time around \u2013 it\u2019s the same combination of strong guitar riffs, anthemic choruses and powerful female vocals their listeners are already familiar with.<\/p>\n

The message Prevail I<\/em> unveils is clear \u2013 Kobra And The Lotus may have their roots in classic Rock and Metal, but their sound is everything but retro. The album certainly rides against the wave of nostalgia which makes the contemporary Rock and Metal acts mimic their \u201870s and \u201880s counterparts. Each of the ten songs that comprise it has a modern feel to it \u2013 heavy and gritty, it\u2019s surely closer to the likes of Lacuna Coil or Evanescence than any \u2018classic\u2019 Metal band. Starting with an almost literal bang (\u201cGotham\u201d), it\u2019s tightly packed with dynamic, fast-paced gallops, Kobra Paige\u2019s operatic vocal lines adding a bit of anthemic quality to them (\u201cTriggerPulse\u201d, \u201cPrevail\u201d). At times, the otherwise schematic tracks are diversified by an unexpected change of pace (\u201cSpecimen X (Mortal Chamber),\u201d \u201cManifest Destiny\u201d). There\u2019s one slow-ish track on the album \u2013 \u201cLight Me Up\u201d \u2013 but don\u2019t be fooled into thinking that what starts mellow, must also end this way.<\/p>\n

As banal as it may sound, Kobra And The Lotus\u2019 biggest strength is its lead singer \u2013 or rather, her voice. Blazing through ten subsequent tracks which form Prevail I<\/em>, Kobra Paige delivers an excellent vocal performance \u2013 dynamic and feisty when needed, and also surprisingly expressive at times (\u201cLight Me Up\u201d). The classically trained chanteuse surely possesses the skill, but what is perhaps even more important than that \u2013 she\u2019s able to reflect a wide range of different emotions in her singing voice, completing the lyrical tone of the album.<\/p>\n

Every rose has its thorn, though \u2013 and in the case of Prevail I<\/em>, it\u2019s certainly the overall sound. A bit too sterile in terms of production, with instruments buried in the mix and even the solo parts sounding hardly selective, the album opts for a \u201cwall-of-sound\u201d effect and loses much of its flavor as a result. And as the instrumental track number eight \u201cCheck The Phyrg\u201d proves, with such skillful musicians on board it\u2019s hardly forgivable. <\/p>\n

Bold, dynamic and modern, Prevail I<\/em> echoes the current Rock and Metal scene with only a subtle, if any, look back on style labeled \u2018classic\u2019 or \u2018vintage.\u2019 A showcase of good musicianship and even better vocal shape, the album is another step forward for the Canadian band. And what is more important, it surely won\u2019t disappoint their staunch fans as well.<\/p>\n

Genre: Heavy Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nKobra Paige \u2013 vocals
\nJasio Kulakowski \u2013 guitars
\nBrad Kennedy \u2013 bass
\nMarcus Lee \u2013 drums<\/p>\n

Tracklist:
\n1. Gotham
\n2. TriggerPulse
\n3. You Don\u2019t Know
\n4. Specimen X (Mortal Chamber)
\n5. Light Me Up
\n6. Manifest Destiny
\n7. Victim
\n8. Check The Phyrg
\n9. Hell On Earth
\n10. Prevail<\/p>\n

Label: Napalm Records<\/p>\n

Website: http:\/\/kobraandthelotus.com\/<\/a> – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/KobraAndTheLotus\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: [usr 7 size=20]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Alexandra Mrozowska – Sr. Columnist — Gone are the days when having a frontwoman was a rarity for a Rock band, and when the boldest female pioneers of the genre were labeled \u201ccaricatures of […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":55628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15128],"tags":[2491,6810,9658,12354,891,13180],"class_list":{"0":"post-55627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2017","8":"tag-heavy-metal","9":"tag-kobra-and-the-lotus","10":"tag-kobra-paige","11":"tag-music-review","12":"tag-napalm-records","13":"tag-prevail-i"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}