Kobold - Death Parade

Old Kobold and Thrash. That’s just a shameless plug to a Squidward Tentacles painting I couldn’t miss my oppurtunity.

Anyway, destination and chaos go hand in hand with thrash metal. Serbia’s Kobold have melded the two together well and the best example comes on their debut album, Death Parade.

Kobold have slowly worked their way out of the “Serbian darkness” to release this album. The band put out two previous EPs that show the great power and aggression Kobold has to offer. Death Parade is an independently released record, but features all of the wonderful qualities you would want from a thrash band. The music is heavy and the production is great. What else could you want?

Death Parade opens with a short overture that is just shy of one minute. The instrumental blends well into the title track, “Death Parade.” That second track is where we are first introduced to the shrieking vocals of Elio Rigonat. The song is fast paced and has classic speed-thrash energy. “Random Act of Violence” opens with a neat intro from the rhythm section of Savo Kraljevic (bass) and Sergei Radan (drums). This is probably my favorite song on the record as its lyrics flow well with the song and the instrumentals are brilliant. The following song, “I, Icarus” has “single quality” which means it’s a fantastic song that with enough exposure could be Kobold‘s popular song.

Can you really call it a thrash metal album if there isn’t a song that opens with a drum countdown? Death Parade ends those worries with “When the Eyes Turn Inwards.” The following song, “Die Hard” opens with a heavy riff that stays the whole song. The solo on “Die Hard” is the most impressive on the album. “Ministry of Propaganda” has some rebellious lyrics against the establishment that are pleasantly evil. The album’s penultimate song, “Mistress of the Night,” is a speedy aggressive mash of heavy riffs and questionable lyrics. That being said, it’s a great song. Death Parade closes with a cover of Exciter’s “Stand up and Fight.” It’s a good cover that serves the original well, some may even prefer this version.

Death Parade is not short of anything. It contains 15 songs that run over 50 minutes. In Kobold’s debut album you will find a tough-as-nails bare-boned band who truly understands what it means to be thrash. They play hard, they crank up the volume, they do everything you would want a thrash metal band to do. Check Kobold out if you want to bang your head for an hour straight. I think you all do.

Death Parade was independently released on July 1, 2017

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