Gin

Aside from their bold vision for progressing the genre of black metal, what really makes Cobalt noteworthy is the fact that the duo’s frontman spends the majority of his time serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq.  You can just image the kind of grim and bleak content in the lyrics.  While it’s impressive that the duo is able to string together a coherent album under such circumstances, Gin also suffers in places because of it.  David Wunder’s drumming seems to falter at times, either not matching the intensity or the tempo of the guitar riffs.  Wunder’s drumming is at its primal best when matched with the thick, clean chords, which is where the band truly shines.  These passages are torturous and tense, creating a throbbing atmosphere that builds towards the heavier, distorted riffs.  The drumming falls behind, but not for lack of trying.  Essentially, in an effort to evoke Tool, Wunder tries to carry the primal beats over the up-tempo riffs, but his vision is too grandiose and ultimately fails.  The sloppiness is endearing and rarely takes little away from the overall track.  Why I don’t fault Wunder as a drummer is because he really nails the brutal, more metal-styled drumming, blasting away over Phil McSorley’s tremolo-picked guitars.  Also, his arrangements are so complex, but the instrumentation is so bare and straightforward, making it quite remarkable that they are able to evoke so much dynamism from so few layers.  Like so many of their labelmates on Profund Lore, cobalt are really pushing the boundaries of black metal.  Without admitting it, there is a very strong Enslaved influence in their sound, notably in the highly complex riffing.  Rather than taking an overtly progressive/psychedelic trope, their sound is heavily tempered by atmospheric undulation in the vein of Swans and Neurosis, relying heavily on the build-up and tension of tribal drumming against clean tones.