On 2007's Eater of Birds, Colorado's Cobalt set new standards for extreme underground blackened metal in the U.S. The unique opus of diseased avant-blackened violent ritualistic war metal set the underground scene aflame with its epic, atmospheric nature; no other album was quite like it.
 
 
The band gave their audience a glimpse of a new direction last year on the limited Landfill Breastmilk Beast EP. With Gin, the duo of Phil McSorley and Erik Wunder treads a darker path and carves out something with more depth and substance. This new album presents ten surreal, ritualistic observations on death, despair, and destruction, inspired by the writings of literary masters Ernest Hemingway and Hunter S. Thompson. Former Swans singer Jarboe once again lends her vocal talents, appearing on the tracks "A Clean Well Lighted Place" and "Pregnant Insect."
 
 
Like a churning maelstrom ready to engulf and level all in its wake, Gin comes across as an extreme blackened metal cousin of Swans, Neurosis, or Killing Joke. Cobalt proves once again that they are in their own realm, untouchable.