Cobra are a Peruvian quintet that plays traditional heavy metal, worshiping in the altar of Iron Maiden and other NWOBHM bands... they also seem to allow themselves to be slightly influenced by the proto-American dirty glam rock but the wave of it that was still influenced by the 70s bands and had balls, you know, Ratt, early Crue, Dokken and the like. More to it, you can’t really fault a bunch of guys that work dayjobs and still will hop on a normal bus, for days, to go cross country, or across countries sometimes, to try and play a show. That’s a real uncompromising attitude and that's really lacking from today’s scene that heavily relies on PR lackeys, buy ons, paid promotion, general fakery and douchebagery. These guys are the real deal, but still got lambasted, by some moronic assholes, just because they weren’t in their “pockets” well fuck them and fuck that. Harry El Sucio (vocals) gets on the case and gives us and update from the road.... because as, Bruce D, has sung it, the road “To Hell” is paved with good intentions... hehe!
Hey Harry. Please Introduce Cobra to our readers and talk a bit about the bands history and previous releases.
H: Hails Dimitrios and to all the Greek demons! Cobra was born on 2005 when Nito and Pochuck joined forces to create a band to play heavy metal. After several line-up changes during the first years, we consolidate at 2007 with Nito and Andrés on guitars, Augusto on bass guitar, Pochuck on drums and me on vocals.
We’ve released some demos and split albums before releasing a full length album. This makes a band gain experience and improve in composition so you can enter to the studio to create what a full length album deserves to be. Also it’s the way a band starts in this path, from the bottom.
Until the date we have two albums “Lethal Strike” (2011) and “To Hell” (2014).
“To Hell” is your second album, since it’s the first album that we actually caught wind of you, do you consider it to be the natural successor to 2011’s “Lethal Strike”?
H: Both albums show Cobra as it really is, a band that can play heavy metal in every term of this music. We really don’t mind about “how a song has to be”, we just let it go things but everything must be led by aggressiveness. This is why we can have song that play with speed metal, rock and roll; or fast song or long songs, for us it’s how we have assimilated heavy metal and rock music.
You also seem to have some promos that did circulate as a tape/official demo at some point, are those with the “same” line-up as you have now? Do you intend to have those re-released?!
H: Not all of them. Peruvian label War Kult re-released “Demo II: The Highland Warrior” in blue tape and also Japanese label Deathrash Armageddon compiled all our demos and promos in a released titled “Kamikaze Tapes: The Official Bootleg”.
How did you come up with the album title “To Hell”? Where does it refer to?
H: We were at the rehearsal studio thinking about the title of the album and “To Hell” seemed to project the moment we were living. “To Hell” is our compromise with heavy metal and rock and roll music, is a way to freedom.
Do give us a hint about each track…
H: “Fallen Soldier”: They have more lives to sacrifice…
“Danger Zone”: City alleys are a maze…
“Rough Riders”: Riding rough the asphalt hordes!
“Beware My Wrath”: Fists and spikes strike like lightning…
“When I Walk the Streets”: Give me two paths to follow…
“To Hell”: Read the song and check the album artwork…
“Beyond the Curse”, “Inner Demon”: Look at the credits…
Who did the album’s production and where did the recordings take place? Are you satisfied by the final outcome?
H: Nito along with a couple of his studies mates took the production of the album. We recorded in different studios, in one all the music, in other one the vocals and solos and in other one re-record the guitars.
Yes, we are all satisfied with the final result. I think it has captured a lot the essence of the band. We all learned a lot and discover great things doing and working in this album. And the sound for us is very important and special and this record definitely is one big approach to keep loyal to a most solid sound.
Since we reviewed your album you did both secure a deal with Van Records and also a slot at KIT festival, so congrats for both those achievements. Do you plan to have some new release ready to tie in with your performance or will you just be promoting your current releases there?
H: Thanks for the words. We are working in new songs for a couple of releases, but none of them is a new album. We must work hard to have some of these productions for next year.
You come from all places, Peru, which if I am allowed to say at least to us Europeans will sound exotic at the very least... can you tell us more about the scene down there and about the lifestyle and life in general?!
H: Perú is a very unique and particular country and metal here is also like this. We are not a country with a solid and organized scene like other cities of the world. Peruvian concerts are up and downs, it’s killer to play here because everything is very intense, bangers really destroy everything when a band plays. But the bad part is that this is also unorganized, concerts starts at 11 or 12 at night and ends at 5 in the morning and everyone is wasted.
Concerning bands, we don’t have a big number of bands here, but here are really great bands. Bands here do not get support from nobody except from themselves and some local labels that help them release material. But also is not so easy to maintain a band in Perú because of daily life, we are still a poor country and jobs are not well paid, so things sometimes get harder to continue.
Things have been changing in the last years but this is still small. I know this will be more solid in some years.
Cobra is a revivalist band that plays, real, spirited metal, yet there were some people that really lambasted you for not being “metal enough” on reviews! What do you have to say to them! (Preferably in Spanish, so they don’t get it straight away, although they could always hit translate!)
H: I don’t think we are a revivalist band, we are a heavy metal band. We just make rock and roll in the way the bands we follow and listen.
What does Metal mean to you?! And what’s Cobra to you?
H: Freedom. My life.
I was reading that you were doing this “local tours” in the countries that are close to Peru like Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile and it was all, really done for the “glory of metal” really as you don’t stand to win pretty much anything from this... what have you got to say to all the big “rock stars” and the managers that have turned music into a “bad business”?! Obviously I respect that one has to get paid, but I also respect seeing people do this sort of selfless – roots thing… (I kid you not dear readers, these guys do travel for days by bus... through Latin America and I somehow tend to doubt it would be tour busses they are using)
H: Things here are way different than in Europe. Travel from Perú to Ecuador: 1 day, from Ecuador to Colombia 1 day, from Perú to Chile 3 day, from Perú to Bolivia 1 day and something more. We don’t live from the band, we have dayjobs and responsibilities as any regular citizen.
We must have a balance between regular life and Cobra so we can keep constant in this path. There are bands that can live with their bands and that’s great, some of them sacrifice their music for being more “well-known” but we don’t care about those things. The important thing is to make real and authentic music.
Normally in Europe and elsewhere piracy is screwing the “sales” of bands, but how are things there, I’m pretty sure, things are less than ideal and poverty must be high? How can a band survive? You’re probably working day jobs right?
H: Piracy is very strong here, but I think that all this internet platforms will end up eradicating piracy. But also piracy has a good side: more people can get to you. I think if a real banger wants the original copy of an album, will get it.
Having non-original records is very usual here. There are more important necessities when you live in a third world country; I think this is a factor why music here is so intense and extreme.
H: Hails Dimitrios and to all the Greek demons! Cobra was born on 2005 when Nito and Pochuck joined forces to create a band to play heavy metal. After several line-up changes during the first years, we consolidate at 2007 with Nito and Andrés on guitars, Augusto on bass guitar, Pochuck on drums and me on vocals.
We’ve released some demos and split albums before releasing a full length album. This makes a band gain experience and improve in composition so you can enter to the studio to create what a full length album deserves to be. Also it’s the way a band starts in this path, from the bottom.
Until the date we have two albums “Lethal Strike” (2011) and “To Hell” (2014).
“To Hell” is your second album, since it’s the first album that we actually caught wind of you, do you consider it to be the natural successor to 2011’s “Lethal Strike”?
H: Both albums show Cobra as it really is, a band that can play heavy metal in every term of this music. We really don’t mind about “how a song has to be”, we just let it go things but everything must be led by aggressiveness. This is why we can have song that play with speed metal, rock and roll; or fast song or long songs, for us it’s how we have assimilated heavy metal and rock music.
You also seem to have some promos that did circulate as a tape/official demo at some point, are those with the “same” line-up as you have now? Do you intend to have those re-released?!
H: Not all of them. Peruvian label War Kult re-released “Demo II: The Highland Warrior” in blue tape and also Japanese label Deathrash Armageddon compiled all our demos and promos in a released titled “Kamikaze Tapes: The Official Bootleg”.
How did you come up with the album title “To Hell”? Where does it refer to?
H: We were at the rehearsal studio thinking about the title of the album and “To Hell” seemed to project the moment we were living. “To Hell” is our compromise with heavy metal and rock and roll music, is a way to freedom.
Do give us a hint about each track…
H: “Fallen Soldier”: They have more lives to sacrifice…
“Danger Zone”: City alleys are a maze…
“Rough Riders”: Riding rough the asphalt hordes!
“Beware My Wrath”: Fists and spikes strike like lightning…
“When I Walk the Streets”: Give me two paths to follow…
“To Hell”: Read the song and check the album artwork…
“Beyond the Curse”, “Inner Demon”: Look at the credits…
Who did the album’s production and where did the recordings take place? Are you satisfied by the final outcome?
H: Nito along with a couple of his studies mates took the production of the album. We recorded in different studios, in one all the music, in other one the vocals and solos and in other one re-record the guitars.
Yes, we are all satisfied with the final result. I think it has captured a lot the essence of the band. We all learned a lot and discover great things doing and working in this album. And the sound for us is very important and special and this record definitely is one big approach to keep loyal to a most solid sound.
Since we reviewed your album you did both secure a deal with Van Records and also a slot at KIT festival, so congrats for both those achievements. Do you plan to have some new release ready to tie in with your performance or will you just be promoting your current releases there?
H: Thanks for the words. We are working in new songs for a couple of releases, but none of them is a new album. We must work hard to have some of these productions for next year.
You come from all places, Peru, which if I am allowed to say at least to us Europeans will sound exotic at the very least... can you tell us more about the scene down there and about the lifestyle and life in general?!
H: Perú is a very unique and particular country and metal here is also like this. We are not a country with a solid and organized scene like other cities of the world. Peruvian concerts are up and downs, it’s killer to play here because everything is very intense, bangers really destroy everything when a band plays. But the bad part is that this is also unorganized, concerts starts at 11 or 12 at night and ends at 5 in the morning and everyone is wasted.
Concerning bands, we don’t have a big number of bands here, but here are really great bands. Bands here do not get support from nobody except from themselves and some local labels that help them release material. But also is not so easy to maintain a band in Perú because of daily life, we are still a poor country and jobs are not well paid, so things sometimes get harder to continue.
Things have been changing in the last years but this is still small. I know this will be more solid in some years.
Cobra is a revivalist band that plays, real, spirited metal, yet there were some people that really lambasted you for not being “metal enough” on reviews! What do you have to say to them! (Preferably in Spanish, so they don’t get it straight away, although they could always hit translate!)
H: I don’t think we are a revivalist band, we are a heavy metal band. We just make rock and roll in the way the bands we follow and listen.
What does Metal mean to you?! And what’s Cobra to you?
H: Freedom. My life.
I was reading that you were doing this “local tours” in the countries that are close to Peru like Argentina, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile and it was all, really done for the “glory of metal” really as you don’t stand to win pretty much anything from this... what have you got to say to all the big “rock stars” and the managers that have turned music into a “bad business”?! Obviously I respect that one has to get paid, but I also respect seeing people do this sort of selfless – roots thing… (I kid you not dear readers, these guys do travel for days by bus... through Latin America and I somehow tend to doubt it would be tour busses they are using)
H: Things here are way different than in Europe. Travel from Perú to Ecuador: 1 day, from Ecuador to Colombia 1 day, from Perú to Chile 3 day, from Perú to Bolivia 1 day and something more. We don’t live from the band, we have dayjobs and responsibilities as any regular citizen.
We must have a balance between regular life and Cobra so we can keep constant in this path. There are bands that can live with their bands and that’s great, some of them sacrifice their music for being more “well-known” but we don’t care about those things. The important thing is to make real and authentic music.
Normally in Europe and elsewhere piracy is screwing the “sales” of bands, but how are things there, I’m pretty sure, things are less than ideal and poverty must be high? How can a band survive? You’re probably working day jobs right?
H: Piracy is very strong here, but I think that all this internet platforms will end up eradicating piracy. But also piracy has a good side: more people can get to you. I think if a real banger wants the original copy of an album, will get it.
Having non-original records is very usual here. There are more important necessities when you live in a third world country; I think this is a factor why music here is so intense and extreme.
Growing up who was your favorite vocalist/inspiration?
H: I admire a lot of vocalists from all kinds of music. What I find attractive from a vocalist is not so much their technique but the ability to transmit ideas, thoughts, and emotions using their voice as an instrument. Some of them would be Ian Gillan, Layne Staley, Bon Scott, Attila Csihar and a long etc.
When you do play Keep It True, do you intend to try and string together more dates around Europe? Could we hope to see you in Greece maybe one day?!
H: Keep It True will be the 24 and 25 of April 2015, but we don’t know which day we are performing yet. Of course we want to take this opportunity to set a European tour. This is our biggest challenge as a band, because we are working very hard organizing this so we can destroy every city as we can step.
About Greece, it would be an honor to be able to play there! I had contact with few bands some years ago, one of them was Witchcurse. I also know that in your country there’s a strong devotion and feeling for heavy metal bands. I really hope after our first strike in Europe we can return and go to further places as Greece.
Time for some weird questions!!! If you were God for a week what would you do?
H: God? What’s that?!
If you were somebody else (man, woman, superhero, beast, historical figure, anything really) who would you choose to be and why?!
H: I don’t know, I’ve never wanted to be anything else than me.
Is there a musician/actor/director/celebrity/someone who deserves to be slapped in the face?!
H: A lot of people that take away oxygen from this planet…
Which is your favorite comedy?
H: I almost don’t watch TV, but it would be “Married with Children”.
Which character from “Game of Thrones” would you have been – if you lived in the Seven Kingdoms? The other guys from the band?
H: Never seen that show.
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you reckon is the one, that’s more likely to send you straight “To Hell”, in the afterlife?
H: I don’t believe in anything like that. Maybe freedom could be the only “sin” that can send you “To Hell”!
If your girlfriend/wife sold all your records to buy herself an expensive ring, how would you react?!
H: Why she would do that?!
Salute all the Greece Cobra fans and readers of Grande Rock!
H: Thanks to you Dimitrios & Thanos for this interview and to all the Greek maniacs that have read this lines. We are going to hit Europe for the very first time next year so it will be awesome if we can meet with you on the road to share a beer. Cheers to all of you!
H: I admire a lot of vocalists from all kinds of music. What I find attractive from a vocalist is not so much their technique but the ability to transmit ideas, thoughts, and emotions using their voice as an instrument. Some of them would be Ian Gillan, Layne Staley, Bon Scott, Attila Csihar and a long etc.
When you do play Keep It True, do you intend to try and string together more dates around Europe? Could we hope to see you in Greece maybe one day?!
H: Keep It True will be the 24 and 25 of April 2015, but we don’t know which day we are performing yet. Of course we want to take this opportunity to set a European tour. This is our biggest challenge as a band, because we are working very hard organizing this so we can destroy every city as we can step.
About Greece, it would be an honor to be able to play there! I had contact with few bands some years ago, one of them was Witchcurse. I also know that in your country there’s a strong devotion and feeling for heavy metal bands. I really hope after our first strike in Europe we can return and go to further places as Greece.
Time for some weird questions!!! If you were God for a week what would you do?
H: God? What’s that?!
If you were somebody else (man, woman, superhero, beast, historical figure, anything really) who would you choose to be and why?!
H: I don’t know, I’ve never wanted to be anything else than me.
Is there a musician/actor/director/celebrity/someone who deserves to be slapped in the face?!
H: A lot of people that take away oxygen from this planet…
Which is your favorite comedy?
H: I almost don’t watch TV, but it would be “Married with Children”.
Which character from “Game of Thrones” would you have been – if you lived in the Seven Kingdoms? The other guys from the band?
H: Never seen that show.
Which of the Seven Deadly Sins do you reckon is the one, that’s more likely to send you straight “To Hell”, in the afterlife?
H: I don’t believe in anything like that. Maybe freedom could be the only “sin” that can send you “To Hell”!
If your girlfriend/wife sold all your records to buy herself an expensive ring, how would you react?!
H: Why she would do that?!
Salute all the Greece Cobra fans and readers of Grande Rock!
H: Thanks to you Dimitrios & Thanos for this interview and to all the Greek maniacs that have read this lines. We are going to hit Europe for the very first time next year so it will be awesome if we can meet with you on the road to share a beer. Cheers to all of you!