Cobra Skulls is well known for their textbook “punk” albums, and their newest EP, Bringing the War Home is no exception. Clocking in at twelve minutes and ten seconds, the five tracks are basically loud, obnoxious and incredibly well written- both lyrically and musically.
The opening track, “Doomsday Parade,” is thrashy and full of catchy hooks, begging for loud speakers and lots of bass in your equalizer. “Ice in the Night” is obscenely obnoxious and tends to grate on your ears over time, but does have some lyrically redeeming qualities. I absolutely adore the groovy guitar riffs in the intro to “Hot Sand” and I can definitely sense some of the influences from my own punk rock upbringing, with their own signature rockabilly twist. David Peralta’s insatiable voice tends to add to the mix of precision drumming, heady bass, and articulate guitar, making this track my personal favorite.
“Give You Nothing” is reminiscent of old Anti-Flag and has more superb shreddy guitar, thrown in with some okay lyrics. I really think this song could have been expanded upon, although I tend to like the bridge quite a bit as it is almost worthy of a good headbang before (something ala older Offspring perhaps). To wrap up the album, “Life in Vein” has a very, very small hint of old Helmet and a touch of Against Me! thrown in for some incredibly interesting sounds and an interesting finish to this album.
I enjoyed the album for what it is- an EP, but frankly they could have done a heck of a lot more with it. The current selling price for the iTunes/CD version is at $8 and is not really worth it for an album 12:10 in length. However, Fat Wreck Chords is selling it for the same price on vinyl- which could be very, very worth it. I would wait for the price to drop or pick it up on vinyl (which is going to be better ANYWAYS, as vinyl tends to be). Recommended for diehard punk fans or vinyl connoisseurs.
Track Listing:
01. Doomsday Parade
02. Ice In The Night
03. Hot Sand
04. Give You Nothing
05. Life In Vain
