TJPL News Magazine Reviews DCxPC Live & Dead Vol. 1 Moat Cobra
‘BLOOD CROPS’ finds the stage, blows the speakers and shakes the vocal cords. A warm-up song to end all warm-up songs, Moat Cobra open like they are headlining a festival. The power is intense; the flavour sour, deep, and rich. The vocals fly out of the noise as it envelops the room, the drums spraying rhythms left and right for the guitars to catch in their teeth.
The sound buckles, the whine of overdrive dominates into ‘DEVOUR’ a song that slows things down but keeps the pressure on. Moat Cobra have a flare, they have style. The melodies woven through the guitars glitter in the spotlights. They dip down heavy, but they fly up now and again, hitting harmonies, throwing lines and chords in unexpected directions. ‘DEVOUR’ and ‘SINGULARITY’ do this so well. It keeps the album feeling fresh and light, it’s interesting and that reels you back in for more. Hooks are another strength for Moat Cobra. They swirl, they bite, they find the gaps and pounce, dripping venom.
‘BAD STAR,’ ‘GLADIUS VULGARIUS,’ ‘SOFFO CONE.’ These songs all remain in your mind for hours after listening. Their ups and downs all create such wonderful melodies and the vocal capitalises on that, pulling back and letting the instrumental do the work. It keeps the set feeling varied, keeps the band feeling intense. If everything was one note, you couldn’t listen to all of it in one go. With Moat Cobra’s masterful variation, you never want their set to end.
Finalising the album comes ‘PERMIAN.’ A culmination of everything that Moat Cobra has to offer. It’s heavy at the start — thrashing drums fill the void, a scream shatters the silence and the bass/guitar combo begins to charge and groan, a power in the dark. The precipice is in sight, and when the rampaging sound reaches it we go into free fall. The melody is king now, the hook is tight and sharp and the vocal does grand work keeping the sound cohesive. Dips and dives and a splendid performance round out the show. Moat Cobra are an example of how live rock shows should go. They keep things tight, they keep the energy up, but they never sacrifice the music. A flooring performance I wish I was there for, but hey, this album is the next best thing. Astounding.
The deep thrum of grunge, the fire of punk and the bolting upright speed of modern metal all combine to create a magical monstrous concoction in Moat Cobra’s performance, Live at Lou’s. ‘DCxPC Live & Dead Vol. 1 Presents Moat Cobra’ is an album recorded live and shipped to us hard and heavy straight from DCxPC, the folks doing the work to bring the underground, overground.
Moat Cobra’s sound is plastered on the walls of the venue. Heavy bass drops, smashing drums that sprint a mile a minute, and guitars that burst into colours unseen. The vocal doesn’t fall off the helter-skelter — an issue which plagues many bands — here, the sonic scream remains tonal, melodic and personable. There is a flavour to it, it’s not just noise. The songs flow out of the room with a tangible texture, it’s a heavy indie lover’s dream.
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