Liste der Bands Heavy Metal Cobra (UK-1) Back from the Dead

The wonderful youtube algorithm introduced me to this album a few years ago, and it became one of my all time favorites. There are two things you might need to get used to about it. One is the production. It was recorded and mixed on a very tight budget. The owner of Ebony Records insisted on mixing everything himself, and he was not good at it. So I'd describe the production as "as is". There were literally 1000 metal bands in the UK in the 80s, all clamboring for the opportunity to record. We're lucky to have anything at all from Cobra. Eventually you get used to the poor fidelity of the sound.

The second factor to get used to is the vocalist. He doesn't have the personality/voice you'd normally expect from a heavy metal singer. He sounds more like a thin, artistic type with a very gritty and edge. Kevin Heybourne from Angel Witch is such a singer. I find Paul Edmondson of Cobra to be like a very angry poet, he has both aggression and pathos to his voice. The album opens with "We're gonna take what's ours", which is a fantastic anthem of empowerment. "Maiden Flight" is a similar sort of anthem about embarking on a musical journey. "Devil's Daughter" is another example of the Temptress archetype which comes up in Cobra's lyrics. It's excellent. But for my money, "Night Creatures" is the best song Cobra ever recorded. It's an introspective song about longing; journeying into the mysterious unknown and being set free from a conventional life. "Longest Night" is yet another anthem steeped in bravado and encouragement, which is one of my favorite aspects of heavy metal. "Life's Door" features some great riffs on an old analog-sounding keyboard; yet another introspective song about existence. "Curse of Eden" is an epic song about some very heavy subjects, examining the burden that women bear, thanks to nature and the structure of society. "So Close" is an up-tempo, not at all bad, but perhaps the only filler song on the album. Back from the Dead closes with the song "Quick Off the Mark", similar in theme to the opener, a song of bravado and visualizing success: "and for all who say we won't make the grade, in the distance now, I watch you fade, like the eagle soaring from the highest peak, I feel your nervous glances, you are the meek". That's a great line. The Cult Metal Classics re-release of the album contains two bonus tracks; and they really are worth buying the vinyl to listen to them. "Love Lies" is an absolutely excellent ballad, almost a goth rocker of a song, perhaps if The Cure played a bit more hard rock. "Temptress" is a bit self-explanatory. I don't know if singer Paul Edmondson wrote the lyrics, and I suspect that he did, he must've run into some real Morticia Addams types in art school. You can absolutely tell the man is an artist, because of his lyrical sensibilities. I believe that Edmondson, or "Raggity" as he was called then, is an art professor in the UK.