I must admit that at the time with so much music around and no real profile outside of the U.S. that King Kobra pretty much passed me by early on even though they boasted a great line-up and had the legendary Carmine Appice leading the show from behind the kit. Maybe they were just a couple of years too early and threw in the towel a little too soon after three records, just as their kind of music was peaking in 1989 when Appice left to play with John Sykes in Blue Murder.
Looking back now there’s a lot to like especially on those first two Marcie Free fronted records ‘Ready To Strike’ and ‘Thrill of a Lifetime’ though ‘III’ is also an interesting record which features Johnny Edwards on vocals who had stints with both Foreigner and Montrose after their more revered frontmen left.
It’s funny how projects go though, when I last interviewed Paul Shortino back in June 2021 he told me that “ I’m also doing some stuff with Carmine. Doing another King Kobra record that will be released on Cleopatra called ‘Music is a Piece of Art’ – this friend of mine Chris Comet is working on the artwork.” and here we are two years later and whilst the record has now been renamed “We are Warriors” it opens with that very piece of music – a smoky, blue-infused hard rocker that signals King Kobra is back.
King Kobra has an interesting lineage too if you follow your Rock family trees with the Icon connections of David Henzerling (or David Michael-Philips as he was on those first records) on guitar. That’s all in the rearview mirror though now with a new line-up that retains only Paul Shortino, Johnny Rod (Bass since 2010 this time around) and Carmine from their last outing when they released ‘King Kobra’ in 2011 and ‘King Kobra II’ in 2013.
King Kobra 2023 comprises of new guitarists Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot) and Rowan Robertson (Dio) who are of course both great guitarists but the sound has a slightly Bluesier edge than their more recent outings which is fine by me: but with new guitars and vocals King Kobra like snakes do has really shed it’s skin and looks a little sleeker than maybe it did last reunion. Some less gracious might even say it’s really just a different band entirely.
What you get is a mixed bag, though always entertaining and it’s not often I level this – but maybe even a few songs heavier than necessary when mist rock bands seem to be things down to nine of ten tracks to tap into the vinyl revival.
‘Turn Up The Music’ for example is a nice mid tempo number with a touch of smoke, whilst ‘Secrets And Lies’ comes on like a train and rides a cool groove. ‘Drownin’’ adds a little more grit and stomps up a storm with a great refrain. Sadly though there’s no out and out ‘balls out’ rockers here and everything sounds cool if a little restrained.
‘One More Night’ is another Bluesy mid-tempo rocker that has a Rainbow/Deep Purple flavour and like everything here a great vocal from Shortino.
For a bit of deja vu ‘Love Hurts’ is the cover of the Boudleaux Bryant song originally made famous by the Everly Brothers and covered by the immortal Nazareth, a band who had a real knack of taking a pop song and rocking out with it (reaching number 8 in the U.S. in 1976). This version is a real homage to Dan McCafferty and perfect for Shortino’s voice. I’d have loved then to have taken another classic and seen that they could do with it but anything that gets people listening to Nazareth is fine by me.
‘Dance’ and its sleazy slow crawl is another winner; before ‘Darkness’ adds some cowbell led big groove retro Zeppelin to the mix; and title track ‘We Are Warriors’ (released as a single) an homage to the Sunset Strip that has that early 80’s flavour down pat. We close what will be the vinyl version with the highway song ‘Drive Like Lightning’ that adds a little more cool bluesy midtempo rocking to the mix, very much in keeping with the flavor of the album.
The CD adds two additional tracks: ‘Trouble’ and ‘Side By Side’. The stuttering groove of the former you feel is maybe not up to the level of the rest here, whilst the demi- ballad ‘Side By Side’ I really like and really suits Paul’s delivery.
This is definitely a grower and if you love that Bluesier hard rock that eschews speed for feel then it’s a keeper.
7.5 /10
TRACKLISTING:
1. Music Is A Piece Of Art
2. Turn Up The Music
3. Secrets And Lies
4. Drownin’
5. One More Night
6. Love Hurts
7. Dance
8. Darkness
9. We Are Warriors
10. Drive Like Lightning
11. Trouble [CD ONLY]
12. Side By Side [CD ONLY]