YEAR OF THE COBRA have announced the first batch of live dates in Europe this year. Seattle’s doom sludge duo will be performing in support of AMENRA at selected concerts.
YEAR OF THE COBRA comment: “We are thrilled to announce that we will be opening for Amenra on the first leg of their European tour this spring”, vocalist and bass player Amy Tung Barrysmith writes. “Getting back to Europe to promote our new self-titled album ‘Year of the Cobra’ was high on our list, and we are so grateful for this opportunity. Thank you, Amenra, for having us. We’ll see you all on the road!”
YEAR OF THE COBRA will be touring in support of their self-titled full-length, “Year of the Cobra“, which was just released on February 28, 2025. Please see below for cover art, tracklist, and further details.
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Live Europe
21 APR 2025 Stuttgart (DE) Im Wizeman
22 APR 2025 Köln (DE) Carlswerk Victoria
23 APR 2025 Hamburg (DE) Uebel & Gefährlich
24 APR 2025 Berlin (DE) Astra
25 APR 2025 Warszawa (PL) Oczki
26 APR 2025 Kraków (PL) Kwadrat
27 APR 2025 Dresden (DE) Beatpol
28 APR 2025 Praha (CZ) Palac Akropolis
Live USA
Release Shows (sponsored by Structures Brewery)
07 MAR 2025 Sacramento, CA (US) Cafe Colonial
08 MAR 2025 San Francisco, CA (US) Bottom of the Hill
14 MAR 2025 Seattle, WA (US) El Corazon
15 MAR 2025 Bellingham, WA (US) The Shakedown
Tracklist
1. Full Sails
2. War Drop
3. Daemonium
4. Alone
5. 7 Years
6. The Darkness
7. The Sleep
8. Prayer
Guitars, who needs guitars in heavy music? At least YEAR OF THE COBRA can happily do without the ones that have only thin strings and are mostly good for fiddling around. Vocalist Amy Tung Barrysmith gets a massive groove and lush heaviness out of her bass, which is more than enough to fuel the booming twin engine made from doom metal and psychedelic sludge that drives their self-titled third full-length.
“Year of the Cobra” has clearly grown out of its two forerunners “…in the Shadows Below” (2016) and “Ash and Dust” (2019), but it also surpasses them. YEAR OF THE COBRA have honed their songwriting, which is more to the point, and produces catchy yet super heavy tunes that are tailor-made to fit the band’s strongest aspects. Amy Tung Barrysmith’s rich alto and the seamless rhythmical rapport between her bass lines and Jon Barrysmith’s emotive drumming come to the fore.
YEAR OF THE COBRA were formed in Seattle in 2015, although the two musicians had already met at a Halloween gig in 2007 where they played in different bands. They started talking a little later and discovered a mutual liking for ultra-heavy music. Originally, the duo planned to bring in a guitarist but soon found that things worked well without one. What started out as a little side project with some jamming on special occasions, like birthdays or anniversaries, slowly but inevitably grew into a band – although that had never been the intention.
While duo acts such as BÖLZER and MANTAR had started to grow in popularity, YEAR OF THE COBRA had to carve out their own niche, which they did with deceptively seeming ease. They created a sound that effortlessly ranged from classic doom melancholy to oppressively heavy riff architectures. YEAR OF THE COBRA went on to transform catchy, almost upbeat rock moments into swirling psychedelia. After setting an exclamation mark behind their name mainly in the US with the debut full-length “…in the Shadows Below”, the duo went on to establish their brand internationally with the sophomore album “Ash and Dust”.
With the ground firmly prepared, YEAR OF THE COBRA are ready for the next step as their self-titled third full-length irrefutably proves. The super heavy “Year of the Cobra” gets her fangs into the ears and won’t let go. Heads are forced to bang, but hey – what could be more fun?
Band: Year of the Cobra
Album title: Year of the Cobra
Release date: February 28, 2025
Style: Doom & Sludge Metal
Label: Prophecy Productions
Review Impact Date: January 27, 2025
Line-up
Amy Tung Barrysmith – vocals, bass, keyboards
Jon Barrysmith – drums
Produced & engineered by Matt Bayles at Studio Litho, Seattle, WA (US)
Mixing by Matt Bayles at The Red Room, Seattle, WA (US)
Mastering by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege, Portland, OR (US)
Links
www.facebook.com/yearofthecobraband
www.instagram.com/yearofthecobra