Few weeks ago I had the chance to interview Cobra, one of the new true metal bands that called my attention as one of the most promising new bands of the metal scene worldwide, so after having a well established second album and having toured Europe, it was an inflection point in their career to the top, and obviously Metalheads Union is not gonna miss the opportunity of having a chat with these guys.
If you want to check their second album review follow this link
Hi guys how are you? Thank you all for your time!
Hi Daniel, nice to be in contact again. Thanks for your interest in making a second interview to us.
First of all how were the band beginnings? Why did you choose Cobra as your band's name?
Cobra was born ten years ago back in 2005 when Nito and Pochuck decided to create and play heavy metal band in a rough and aggressive way. They chose Cobra as the name of the band because of an old anime they use to watch as kids. Cobra is a lethal name, such as our intentions with rock and roll music.
Have Cobra evolved in any way from the first album to the second album? How could you describe the media feedback for both releases?
Definitely. Cobra evolved in creating a solid album of heavy metal. This means not only having good songs, but delivering a unity of heavy metal: music, lyrics, artwork, ideas, and put together in order to have a blasting experience once you put play to the record.
When “Lethal Strike” was released in 2011, it didn’t have very much media attention as “To Hell” did last year and even nowadays did. The difference was that our first album had a poor promotion and distribution work. Now we are very conscious about the results of working those aspects of an album release.
You got a very aggressive style even when adding that strong hard rock drippings, how could you describe the band's style and what makes it different of most of the new traditional heavy metal bands?
Thanks for the words. I could define Cobra’s style as a very intense heavy metal rock and roll music. About what makes us different between these new traditional bands, we don’t even consider ourselves part of these tag. We are only focused about been ourselves playing the kind of music we like. We don’t want to be like the bands we admire, we want to be as relevant as them with our music.
Which bands are the most influent for you? I'd like to know your individual preferences.
I like artists that are intense with the music they make. The ones that comes to my mind right now would be Earth, The Stooges, Nirvana, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, The Wailers and Led Zeppelin.
How is the true metal scene in Peru? Now that you played in Keep it true, how do you feel about it? How did the fans react to your sound?
Peruvian metal scene is small, very underground if it’s compared to the European one. Our scene is very unorganized and informal but things are changing to better. Here the concerts are with bands of different metal styles, so it’s common for bands and bangers from here to be into heavy, black, death, doom or even psych and punk music.
Keep It True was a great experience. We never had that sensation to play in front of so many die hard heavy metal maniacs. People there really knows what metal music is about, I think they reacted very well, they could get the vibe and intention of the band. After playing there, I only want more of this.
The vocals that you do are really high pitched some times, changing from sharp to clean patterns, how do you manage to keep your voice while on tour?
I try to avoid cold drinks, smoke and cover always my neck during the tour. Although it’s enjoyable to be on the road having a good time, the best thing is always take care of your instrument.
Tell me a special memory of this European tour.
Waking up during different moments of the day and night inside the van while everyone else was sleeping. Looking at the other guys, our tour manager, the highway, the scenery and realizing that everything was real, that was actually happening. Living like that was everything I ever wanted, it was a great feeling.
Are you working on the new album? If so, could you anticipate any information? What could the fans expect for the next full length?
Right now we are writing and creating new songs. We already know which songs will be part of our third album, but now we are working in two different productions. I hope soon we can have more news about it.
Any chance to visit the UK? What about Japan? If you could choose a country to play, which one could it be?
Actually, we received a couple of offers to visit UK but distances didn’t match to go there. After the European tour we made contact with people involved in festivals and stuff not only in Europe but also in Asia, so let’s make things happen.
If I could choose a country I would like to play in Japan, like Deep Purple did in 1972.
Finally guys could you send a message to your fans?
Beware to our next move, it might be lethal for your mind.
Thanks brothers and hope to see you soon on stage!
Thanks to you Daniel for giving us a space on your site.
