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Germany's Cobrakill is mining the '80s for their metallic inspiration, specifically the kind that sat on the line between hard-rocking traditional heavy metal and the radio-friendly, accessible music that led directly to what became "hair" metal. That's not to say the music on Serpent's Kiss, the band's second album, isn't heavy, because a lot of the songs rock hard, but the songwriting has a lot of bluesy feel, the cowbell makes an appearance, and the lyrics on cuts like "Ride My Rocket" and "Velvet Snakeskin" are painfully obvious. I am reminded of bands like Mötley Crüe, Kix, Dokken, Rough Cutt, and other L.A. scene bands, before they sold their souls to commercial and corporate pressures. Even the ballad, "Seventeen", avoids being as cloying as some of those "hits" from back in the day. Cobrakill does a good job emulating the sound they are going for, so if listening to Hair Nation on satellite radio does the trick, Serpent's Kiss should work well for you.