Glam metal doesn’t have the best reputation. Sure, the likes of MÖTLEY CRÜE, TWISTED SISTER and POISON have legions of devoted fans, but they’re the exceptions rather than the rule. Other popular trends from that era like thrash and Goth have all had resurgences over the years but glam is a more niche market. STEEL PANTHER are the only act to have made a significant career out of it post-1991 and they had the get-out-of-jail-free-card of being a parody. Their rampant misogyny was a front, and it always felt like they had one foot out of the door. But newcomers COBRA SPELL aren’t joking.
At first glance, they certainly resemble a female equivalent of STEEL PANTHER; they clearly love glam metal and have firmly embraced the aesthetic. They look like they drink Jack Daniels more than water and live to hoover cocaine off the sweaty bodies of groupies whose names they’ll never remember. But there’s more to these ladies than a gender-flipped equivalent of Michael Starr and friends; COBRA SPELL are not a knowing satire, they mean it! 666 isn’t a knowing wink and nudge, it’s a legitimate glam metal record.
So, it’s a bit of a surprise when singer Kristina Vega joins us for a Zoom call and turns out to be far more down-to-earth than her stage presence would suggest. We were half expecting a sex-obsessed devil-worshipper drinking from a chalice of blood and vodka, but instead she’s laidback, humble and never stops smiling. She comes across as a musician who really loves heavy metal and alongside the rest of the band, she’s on a mission to return glam to the spotlight.
“In the record you’ll find a lot of different styles. Something heavy, something groovy, you’ll find ballads, romantic songs, happy tracks about love,” she explains. “We have a song called You’re A Cheater which is really happy. You know when you listen to QUEEN songs and you can feel a certain darkness but the songs are super happy? That’s the vibe we wanted with 666. With some songs we go heavier, but we wanted to catch different aspects from the eighties and try to connect everything.”
Kristina’s enthusiasm is infectious and you can hear it in the album. 666 is a big, upbeat shot of retro fun and every single track could have been on the soundtrack to your favourite eighties movie. COBRA SPELL evoke a very particular vibe, that being ‘riding down a California highway in a Mustang while Tom Cruise flies past in a fighter jet.’ And if you want a good example of this, go on YouTube and check out the video for S.E.X.. It’s got over 170,000 views so far and the feedback has been largely positive.
“In the beginning, we were trying to connect what does sex mean for everyone in the band,” she explains. “For me, I had in my mind, this image of a girl surrounded by guys, but we switched it. I was centred but I wanted to be surrounded by girls. The band is formed by all girls and I feel empowered when I’m surrounded by girls. I think female power is really strong when women are together and I was super focused on that. This is what pleasure means to me, not sex as in actual sex, just the image of ‘yeah, this is cool’.”
The mere fact COBRA SPELL consists of five women and Kristina used the word ‘empowered’ is likely to have certain corners of the internet turning purple with rage. However, while they might be an all-female band, that wasn’t the original goal. Formed by up and coming guitar demon Sonia Anubis (formerly of CRYPTA and BURNING WITCHES), the first version of the band was an inter-gender affair, but things changed in 2022. Singer Alexx Panza and drummer Léonard Cakolli both decided to leave and commit to their other projects, and with the three remaining members all being women, Anubis pursued the idea of an all-female band.
Soon, the current line-up came together and it’s a genuinely international group. COBRA SPELL has members from Venezuela, Spain, The Netherlands and Brazil and while this has no doubt caused a logistical issue or two, they’re already making waves. Signing to Napalm Records has opened a lot of doors and they’ll be taking 666 on the road throughout 2024.
But while they might sing about devil worship, it’s more because it’s cool than out of any genuine desire to worship at the feet of Lucifer. Kristina was raised in a Catholic household and for her, performing this kind of music was inevitable. “It’s about being treated like the black sheep. The idea of rebellion if you’re in a Catholic family and you don’t fit, you want to escape from that. Sometimes we have to put up with certain things from our family that we don’t like. ‘Oh, you’re dressed all in black, this is weird, what are you listening to…’ that makes you want it more! It makes you want to put on spikes and leather and big boots and listen to loads of black metal.”
In other words, no it’s not genuine Satanism but everything else about COBRA SPELL is the real deal. 666 exists because they adore this genre and because being provocative is fun. That’s how they’ve wound up with a song called Satan Is A Woman, which is in the rare position of annoying Christian fundamentalists and Incels alike. But Christianity has painted women as the villains ever since Eve took a bite out of an apple, so why not go all the way?
“I was asked ‘do you think that Satan really is a woman?’ I said of course. Satan is a woman, Santa is a woman. And so is the tooth fairy. Why not? Let’s give the creativity free reign.”
666 is out now via Napalm Records.
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