Hideous Divinity first came to my attention in December last year, when I chanced across them supporting Iniquity in Liverpool, so I’ve been keeping an eye on them ever since and their brand new offering, Cobra Verde can certainly be described as a good listen. Nine slabs of face-melting metal, it will have your head banging along to it before you can even stop yourself!
Things get off to an excellent start with fantastic opener In My Land I Was A Snake, bringing a lot of noise and aggression, and this is maintained throughout the entire album. Hideous Divinity just don’t stop and the sheer amount of energy they project is something to behold.
Particular highlights are tracks such as Salt In The Martyr’s Tear, which features a striking spoken/yelled introduction before the full band kicks in, and Desolation Within, which is a hard-hitting number that has just the right of melody to juxtapose with the heaviness, courtesy of a rather good guitar solo in the middle.
The only problem is that there isn’t much variation within the album, and at times it gets a little grating to hear them taking a similar approach to every song, but as a whole Hideous Divinity have really crafted a good release with Cobra Verde.
7/10
