Author: Primož Novak
Location: Ljubljana / Gromka / Slovenia
Concert date: 26.09.2016
Ticket price: 15€/18€
The festival season has finally wrapped up, and it’s time for the club season. In other words, smaller shows. The autumn gig season is definitely a varied one, and with the Yob and Black Cobra show it was the turn of fans of heavy, slow rhythms. And even though this wasn’t your traditional doom metal fare, the Gromka hall filled up.
Black Cobra, the duo, struck first. Guitarist Jason Landrian and drummer Rafael Martinez made it clear right from the start that there would be no mercy. Black Cobra are mostly labeled as sludge and doom metal, but that can be pretty misleading. The band doesn’t rely only on slow songs — it actually pushes the fast ones way up front. The first association that comes to mind is High On Fire, who have always dished out aggressive stoner/sludge metal at thrash tempos. Black Cobra can boast a similar style, hitting hard rhythmically and aggressive in all the right ways. The only thing missing was the depth that comes with a powerful bass guitar, which could have let Black Cobra compete with England’s Conan too. Still, Black Cobra warmed up the crowd more than well. With fast, dynamic songs they convincingly showed just how wide-ranging the “slow” genre can be.
Half an hour later Yob kicked off their set, led by Mike Scheidt, who also got the most attention. Yob are known for their dreamier approach, with a heavily effected guitar that stands out and gives the whole thing its own special atmosphere. But with Yob things turn pretty quickly, the heavy-hitting parts kick in, and you no longer get the feeling the band is leaning on the tried-and-true formulas laid down by Neurosis and Sleep. Yob know how to speed everything up, which adds one more dimension to their music. Yob’s songs are long, varied to a degree, and occasionally certain parts drag a bit, but that’s nothing new for a band like this. Their repertoire touched on almost the entire career. They left the first albums aside, but that didn’t spoil the overall impression. Maybe a favorite or two was missing, but the band got their point across. Mike Scheidt constantly urged the crowd to get involved, and he then backed up the band’s recipe with his clean and harsh vocals. The rhythm section also deserves praise, keeping things lively through the entire set, while the bass guitar delivered the depth that was missing with Black Cobra. Last but not least, it’s safe to say that Yob are far more interesting live than on album.
The Yob and Black Cobra show at a more-than-decently-packed Gromka club proved that this year’s gig season is definitely a varied one. Fans of the less commercial genres and obscure bands get their fix too, bands you’d never have imagined would wander our way. Times are obviously changing, and we definitely want even more shows like this in the future.
photos: Klemen Udovč
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