COLISEUM
No Salvation
(Relapse)

TERHEN
Eyes Unfolded
(Firebox)

OXBOW
The Narcotic Story
(Hydra Head)

THESE ARE:
Scare Tactics
(Hold True)

TOMAHAWK
Anonymous
(Ipecac)

CAPITAL
Homefront 

(Revelation)

GET BACK UP
Weathering the Storm

(Organized Crime)

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How many ways can I find to say that this album absolutely slays? Its rating should say it all.  But if that doesn’t suffice let me just tell you that the ever super populated field of avant-garde black metal is getting crowded. And I couldn’t be happier if the little space left is filled by acts as talented and open minded as this one. The Colorado two-piece known as Cobalt, with an EP (Hammerfight)  and the War Metal full-length issued by Displeased Records under their belts, has definitely raised the bar here.  I was very surprised by the ‘war metal’ tag, not only because of its choice as name for their first recording but because on Eater of Birds Cobalt confidently moves into very pleasant territories. If anything, perhaps the desolate aspects of a war torn city are getting drawned and painted here, quite beautifully I shall add.  That’s not to say there is no violence here, matter of fact some tracks just come crashing down with the speed and violence of a guillotine but to limit this duo’s work as merely ‘war metal’ seems somehow insufficient.

Eater of Birds explodes with buzzsaw riffs, rampant double bass drums and vocals in somewhat typical blackened necro mode. Well-played, nothing out of the ordinary for the first few minutes. But as the record settles in, interesting experimentations, acoustic interludes, and what is perhaps the most outstanding array of guitar riffs this side of the river of death shape up one of the most interesting extreme musical proposals.  Without stepping into heavy psychedelic territory a la Nachtmystium, the dudes of Cobalt stretch their tunes usually past the six-minute mark. A space of time during which the record traverses from hyper violence and appropriate war black metal to ambient acoustic instrumentals and, like is the case of “Blood Eagle Sacrifice”, into feedback and some seriously shattering and well-structured songs. The one in question is particularly well-written, with an instrumental mid-section that comes to dueling guitars of riffs and blast beats only to subsequently fall into full demonic mode. Let’s face it, most black metal is damn boring, but bands like Cobalt are stirring things up from the sub-levels of hell and all the way up.

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