KING KOBRA — “We Are Warriors”

If you haven’t heard of a rock band called King Kobra, that could be because they have had a rather fractured career. They first got together in 1983, split up in 1989, got back together briefly for the Millennium then again in 2010 until the current day.

As you might assume from the time period, they are no spring chickens; their youngest member is lead guitarist Rowan Robertson, a 51 year old Englishman; the drummer is Carmine Appice, a legendary figure who has played with the recently deceased Jeff Beck among others. He is now 76.

So what does this album have to offer? Twelve tracks, which is a good start, though nothing over five and a half minutes. It kicks off with Music Is  A Piece Of Art. Some of it is, but not this track although it is a decent, fairly uptempo number.

This is followed by Turn Up The Music. Aficionados might be expecting a cover of that blistering Sammy Hagar track from his 1978 live album All Night Long; if so they will be sadly disappointed, this is a distinctly inferior original number. Secrets And Lies is a better effort, an uptempo rocker without a deep message in spite of the suggestive title, just don’t trust that woman. 

Drownin’ is another uptempo number with some decent soloing; this is followed by One More Night.

At 5 minutes 28 seconds, track 7, Dance, is the longest number on the album, but not by much. Dance is a slowish, thoughtful song. 

Track 10 is Drive Like Lighting, a decent uptempo commercial number and an obvious single but not released as such.

Track 12, Side By Side, is melodic rock at its best, which brings us to track 9, the title track and the streamed single; it is actually called We Were Warriors rather than We Are Warriors. As the five band members have a combined age of over three hundred years, that is understandable, but on this performance they won’t be hanging up their swords any time soon.

We Are Warriors will be released on August 11 as a digital, CD and on vinyl, yes, they are still making records on vinyl. Digital is the same price everywhere, but this company is based in Los Angeles, so if you are ordering a physical copy from outside the USA, expect to pay a hefty premium.