It’s been six years since the release of the last Snakebite album Rise Of The Snake, A great follow up that managed to actually improve on the debut that came before it, Princess Of Pain. Snakebite walk the line between hard rock and what was referred to as heavy metal in the 80s rather than what we’d likely define that label as these days.
A synth wave beat and piano playing kicks off “Blow It Up” before the drums queue up the riffs and vocals, a mid tempo verse section gives way to an anthemic chorus that will no doubt go over huge in their live set. There’s a great guitar solo later in the song that is backed by a great, albeit slower riff that plays off of each other nicely.
“Stormriders” comes charging in from the first note with an almost Iron Maiden and Judas Priest attack, The distinct vocals of Dominik (Nikki) Wagner keep this song from sounding too far in the power metal direction and that works to great effect, He has a vocal style all his own that great playing by the band aside really helps these guys stand out. And damn does that guitar solo rip, The drums played by Julian Fischer blasting behind it really makes the overall guitar solo hit even harder.
I think if you wanted a song to depict the motto of music like this then look no further than the upbeat and anthemic single “Headed For The Best” this could honestly have been an early Poison track, upbeat riffs and a great progression in the melody lead you into a catchy as hell chorus. This is just a flat out fun track that will have you driven to either go out and live your best life or aspire to reach for the stars. There’s a cool acoustic strumming section before an absolutely fantastic guitar solo pushes things over the top in grand fashion. This was a no brainier for the single and one of the best songs they’ve recorded to date.
“Wheels Keep On Turning” starts off with some great riffs, There’s a heavy dose of early Vain with a dash of Poison in the DNA of this song. This track is just a feast of great riffs and leads.
“Don’t Turn Away” keeps the pace and has some great playing but I feel the chorus falls a bit flat for me.
“My Burning Love” bursts in with a great mid tempo pace with muted riffs and a great performance by the rhythm section, The chorus is energetic and brings to mind early poison. I love that the rhythm of this song never lets go, The melody and pace keep things going throughout and lead into a great guitar solo. Nikki ends the song in the way you’d hear a great frontman end a great rock show. With a high vocal outro! An absolutely fantastic track that is one of my favorites on the album.
“Weekend Warrior” comes galloping in with some almost early thrash metal riffs and drumming, The pace of that only lets up at the chorus where the tempo is maintained but shows a little more of their hard rock leanings. This song will have your head banging the whole way through.
“Kill Wig Metal” is a curious track in its subject matter, I’m not sure if this is taking aim at cover bands or people who fake being rock n roll artists on stage? They really have something to say with this song. After all, Rock N’ Roll is more than music to some of us, It’s a way of life and I can’t really fault the point they’re making here. In any case it’s still a great song. It starts off with some clean electric playing before the distortion comes in and kicks things up a notch. The progression of the riffs in this song are excellent and the rhythm section adds the extra thunder necessary to make this song hit even harder, maybe it’s the scathing critique in the vocals of this track but I love the attitude this song exudes. It’s got catchy as hell rhythms but it has the sort of venom that GNR had when they had less to lose. This song is a drop the microphone moment.
“Chained To Rock” falls somewhere between Vain and L.A. Guns, Hard hitting rock n roll with big gang vocal choruses and zero pretentiousness. This energetic track is one of my favorites on the album and will get you moving.
“Long Way Home” ends the album with another one of the best songs on Cobra Crew. It starts out with slower acoustic strumming before progressing into harder hitting riffs, the rhythm in this song is very melodic. This is something more like I would expect from Junkyard Drive. It fits with the rest of the songs but I feel it’s the song that stands out as the most different, with it’s shifts in tempo and melody structure it’s a fantastic song with phenomenal playing. Definitely the right song to end the album with as it will have you wanting to start the whole thing over again.
It seems that the longer time span between this album and Rise Of The Snake was well spent, Cobra Crew is the best album they’ve done to date and these guys just keep getting better by the record.
7.5/10