Limp Bizkit’s Gold Cobra

by PIXIE STARDUST

In the interests of full disclosure I will shamefully admit that I was a fan of some of Limp Bizkit’s early work, particularly their cover of George Michael’s ‘Faith’ that featured on their first album Three Dollar Bill, Y’all$. Thankfully for my credibility my interest in the band faded with their third release Chocolate starfish and the hot dog flavoured water. By the time they had released their dismal cover of the Who’s “Behind Blue eyes” I had joined the hordes preaching their inherent awfulness. This was also around the time of Fred Durst’s alleged dalliance with Britney Spears which my younger self was seriously affronted by. Why, Britney, why?
As I sat down to listen to the new album Gold Cobra I was curious and slightly apprehensive. Had the 10 year hiatus resulted in a new, improved Limp Bizkit? Had they modernised their sound? My apprehension was not soothed by the album cover. It features a badly drawn image of three scantily clad women writhing under a cobra, with the words Limp Bizkit scrawled above in graffiti script.
The album starts as heavy as ever before bringing an unexpected electro beat that sounds a bit like Lil’ Wayne. Then the unmistakeable vocal of Fred Durst comes through, as angry and vitriolic as ever. It becomes quickly clear that the blend of rock, metal, rap and singing is mostly the same with the occasional addition of a clubbier beat. The obligatory experiment with auto-tune in an attempt to be ‘modern’ fails dismally.
Lyrically, it is mainly daft and laden with swear words, generally about Fred’s ability to survive despite everyone hating him, or how exactly he intends to deal with such haters e.g. I’m going to f— you up” , “Mother f—– f— you with my middle finger”. I struggled to listen to any track all the way through particularly “Get a life” which involved Fred yelling about how he was going to kill someone. I was able to sit through one whole track where Fred stops shouting long enough to try singing, a softer number which was okay.
Overall this album is not bringing anything new to the musical table, in fact it sounds like they have actually regressed. For true fans only.