Kobra And The Lotus
Prevail I
Napalm Records
2017
The problem with a band like KATL is that once they were picked up by someone like Universal/Spinefarm for their sophomore and possibly only album worth talking about, where both the vocal prowess of singer Kobra Paige, as well as the combination of musicians that worked on that release and have since been replaced, seemed to work well together to amply demonstrate what the band could be capable off, have been on a steady decline, with some 3 albums in the space of five years while touring quite heavily, not focusing on quality rather than having a product out there to tour behind.
The follow ups have taken all that’s cringworthy and laughable about metal, the non self-deprecation, the “pride” and a host of bad power metal clichés and dumped them on a band that didn’t use to have them, or if they did, did a hell of a good job keeping them out of their earlier works. The far more modern production of “Prevail” that wishes to also be a two part concept, seems to make it less passionate and more mechanical/industrial sounding, with the instruments sounding too processed and homogenized, possibly something that could be desired given the albums concept.
While she is still a competent singer over the course of the couple of past albums, the introduction of a lot more atmospheric parts in the music of the band that shifts the focus away from guitars, quite often has affected the vocals, which have become less direct and more melodramatic; sometimes working and sometimes not… let say that while KP is a capable singer, her better vocals are those when she’s either belting out, or being very melodic and not when she tries to crossover. The only tracks that I find totally to my liking are the scorching “Hell on Earth” or the much softer “Light Me Up”… I would have to add the instrumental “Check the Phyrg” that’s riffier and more classic sounding than a lot of the material on the album and works a lot better. “Prevail”, the track, has all of the flaws people might poke fun Manowar for, but none of the charm…
Caught in a conundrum between going “modern” and maintaining some “metal” cred, the band seems to be going through too many members too fast, with the writing being affected and inconsistent. If the point is to get a few plays in Spotify, rather than to make a memorable album, they might have got what they are after; but to me, this is the prime example of bands that will be juiced out and soon forgotten. At least they’re one of the talented ones and not as terrible as one of their label mates, who are also Canadian, but often forget and play “metal” with loincloths, often forgetting to stay in tune, even in their studio forays…. but 4 million views should either mean that people are tone-deaf or that someone just purchased them from a click-farm.
While I felt compelled enough to purchase the s/t album a few years ago (albeit at a sale), I have not felt that urge with any of the follow-ups and “Prevail I” seems to be sending the band further up shit’s creek in the annals of metal history, making it more and more unlikely that I could find myself bothered with what they’re at in the future… given that a second part of “Prevail” is meant to drop soon, the band should hope it manages to keep their name “hot”, because if it fails, it might do so spectacularly. To me it’s a 50-50 chance, because despite having a good vocalist, the amount of thought that has gone into the songwriting seems to be minimal, with results that end up sounding generic and random, despite the pretty good performances involved.
The follow ups have taken all that’s cringworthy and laughable about metal, the non self-deprecation, the “pride” and a host of bad power metal clichés and dumped them on a band that didn’t use to have them, or if they did, did a hell of a good job keeping them out of their earlier works. The far more modern production of “Prevail” that wishes to also be a two part concept, seems to make it less passionate and more mechanical/industrial sounding, with the instruments sounding too processed and homogenized, possibly something that could be desired given the albums concept.
While she is still a competent singer over the course of the couple of past albums, the introduction of a lot more atmospheric parts in the music of the band that shifts the focus away from guitars, quite often has affected the vocals, which have become less direct and more melodramatic; sometimes working and sometimes not… let say that while KP is a capable singer, her better vocals are those when she’s either belting out, or being very melodic and not when she tries to crossover. The only tracks that I find totally to my liking are the scorching “Hell on Earth” or the much softer “Light Me Up”… I would have to add the instrumental “Check the Phyrg” that’s riffier and more classic sounding than a lot of the material on the album and works a lot better. “Prevail”, the track, has all of the flaws people might poke fun Manowar for, but none of the charm…
Caught in a conundrum between going “modern” and maintaining some “metal” cred, the band seems to be going through too many members too fast, with the writing being affected and inconsistent. If the point is to get a few plays in Spotify, rather than to make a memorable album, they might have got what they are after; but to me, this is the prime example of bands that will be juiced out and soon forgotten. At least they’re one of the talented ones and not as terrible as one of their label mates, who are also Canadian, but often forget and play “metal” with loincloths, often forgetting to stay in tune, even in their studio forays…. but 4 million views should either mean that people are tone-deaf or that someone just purchased them from a click-farm.
While I felt compelled enough to purchase the s/t album a few years ago (albeit at a sale), I have not felt that urge with any of the follow-ups and “Prevail I” seems to be sending the band further up shit’s creek in the annals of metal history, making it more and more unlikely that I could find myself bothered with what they’re at in the future… given that a second part of “Prevail” is meant to drop soon, the band should hope it manages to keep their name “hot”, because if it fails, it might do so spectacularly. To me it’s a 50-50 chance, because despite having a good vocalist, the amount of thought that has gone into the songwriting seems to be minimal, with results that end up sounding generic and random, despite the pretty good performances involved.