When two robed men and a mysterious figure resembling what could best be described as a furred wizard take stage to turn out some heavy prog-metal jams it’s difficult not have your attention piqued. Hailing from Adelaide, progressive metal trio Cobra formed from a group of high school friends with a mutual appreciation for heavy music and pushing their progressive inclinations to their compositional limits.
Like the reptile and karate dojo they share a name with, Adelaide’s Cobra are lean, tough and command attention. This trio are pushing metal to its limits.
The current lineup consists of guitarist Yanni Apostolidis, bassist Jack Crawford and drummer Jonty Czuchwicki. Citing Mastodon as their biggest influence, the band also list a veritable cavalcade of metal and prog rock acts such as Skye, Meshuggah, Red Fang, Electric Wizard as well as Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats that have helped define their sound. The group have hit the ground running cutting their chops within the Adelaide metal scene supporting Sydney contemporaries Sumeru as they passed through Adelaide, playing alongside local acts such as Joy Sparkes as well as curating a number of their own Cobra Presents gigs. 2015 is looking to be another big year for the band with a number of live performances on the cards including supporting premier Adelaide psych rockers Glass Skies at their EP launch in July and headlining another curated gig in June.
Cobra have teased fans with a live performance of the track The Golden Age from an upcoming audiovisual project which will see the band’s set transformed into an interactive animated live DVD analogous to Austrian prog counterparts Mother’s Cake’s Off the Beaten Track. The opening riffs of The Golden Age add the band’s own flavour to the influence of bands from what drummer Jonty terms the “Good old days of classic heavy metal” such as Black Sabbath before progressing into outright rock and roll by the close of the track.
Jonty has stated that at this stage the band’s ominous trappings are not a regular feature of their performances, but a one-off inspired by the stage dress of faux rock stars Spinal Tap as well as The Red Hot Chili Peppers and intended to add a larger than life dimension to the performance. Yanni has added that their ritual attire was intended to add an extra dimension to the live experience, but ultimately the truth of whether or not this was achieved was ultimately locked somewhere within the ‘beer ravaged minds’ of the audience.
The boys are also currently working on material for a yet untitled debut EP with Jonty expressing an interest in working alongside the likes of Alex Markwell (The Delta Riggs) for the recording, noting that his production skills would be well suited to translating the band’s sound to record.
