Cognitive is able to immediately kick listeners and fans alike in the ass with the opening salvo, Cut the Fuck Up, from their self-titled album. The production allows for the guitars, vocals, and drums to shine on their own while contributing to a breakneck, take no prisoners sort of attitude. Worlds Beneath has hints of a sludge / Corrosion of Conformity groove hidden behind the shuffling, shambling collection of guitars and drums. The vocals chug over the track, creating something that will whip up crowds as well as keep things rapid and intense throughout the early registers of the disc.
The dynamic between the disparate elements of the band create something that will resound loudly in listeners’ ears long after the disc has ceased to spin. While there is an intensely heavy sound that issues forth at all points during this self-titled releases, Cognitive is able to showcase a technically brilliant side during cuts like Willingness of the Weak and Fire From The Sky. Affliction Humanity is the final track on Cognitive’s latest, and it showcases the band in a hellacious groove. There is no drawing down of the passion that was presented on the earlier segments of the album, but the track provides listeners with hope that Cognitive will be able to create another title that is as impressive as this eponymous album.
Make it a point to add Cognitive on Facebook for the latest in information about this brutal act and their upcoming new full-length album. The music on the album is rough, raw, and powerful; here’s to hoping that the band is able to call forth the strength and authority during their live dates.
Top Tracks: Willingness of the Weak and Fire From The Sky
Rating: 8.7/10
Cognitive S/T CD Review / 2014 Pathologically Explicit / http://www.pathologicallyexplicitrecordings.com / http://www.reverbnation.com/cognitive