Label: Napalm Records
Review by Tony Cannella
Five albums in and it sure seems like Canada‘s Kobra and the Lotus are on some kind of a roll. It certainly hasn’t happened overnight, from their debut album “Out of the Pit” (released in 2010) up until their latest album “Prevail II” – and everything in between – the band has seen each album eclipse their previous one in terms of quality and success. There is a certain ‘old school’ aspect in which the band has risen from a grassroots beginning to where they are now – at the top of their game – in all aspects of the metal genre. Their latest album “Prevail II” is just such a great album and expands upon their previous album “Prevail I” which was also great, but – in my opinion – “Prevail II” is their best album, with all due respect to what they have done before. It is really just splitting hairs, I guess because I could absolutely go back and listen to “Prevail I” and “High Priestess” (review here) with the same enthusiasm as when they were first released. One thing I love about “Prevail II” (and let’s be honest, there is so much to love), is lyrically the band delivers a message of positivity and empowerment, which is a refreshing change. The world can be a shitty place and we don’t need to be reminded of that 24/7, so it is nice to see a band like KATL putting a little power and positivity into the world. The title “Prevail” says it all. Lead singer Kobra Paige has become one of the most charismatic and powerful voices in all of metal. The songs on “Prevail II” don’t let up from the beginning of the opening salvo “Losing My Humanity” to the closing number. The band shows that consistency is key. My favorite song changes all the time. One day it is “Let Me Love You”, the next it is “My Immortal” or “Human Empire” or “Modern Day Hero” (with its killer vocal harmonies) or the thrashy “You’re Insane”. I also love the understated melodicism of “White Water”, it is just a beautiful song and on this day, it is my favorite, but like I said, it changes all the time. KATL also covers the Fleetwood Mac classic “The Chain” and do it justice. All-in-all, “Prevail II” is a melodic metal masterpiece, that is so good on so many levels. In this day-and-age of so many different choices and 5-minute attention spans, “Prevail II” is the album that I didn’t know I needed, but now I do. It serves as a reminder of why fell in love with metal in the first place.
Rating – 100/100
Tracklist
- Losing My Humanity
- Let Me Love You
- Ribe (Instrumental)
- My Immortal
- Human Empire
- Heartache
- Velvet Roses
- Modern Day Hero
- You’re Insane
- White Water
- The Chain
- Let Me Love You (acoustic)
Line Up
- Kobra Paige – Vocals, piano
- Jasio Kulakowski – Lead & rhythm guitar
- Ronny Gutierrez – Guitar
- Brad Kennedy – Bass
- Lord Marcus Lee – Drums