Live Review: Holy Serpent, Inwoods, Mammoth

In the heavy rain three things prevailed at the Worldsend – stoner, doom and psychedelic sludge.

With the patrons of this local Adelaide hot spot for rock and metal music cowering from the ominous precipitation, and hot on the heels of a smashing opening from local heavy hitters Mammoth, Inwoods then gave SA music lovers further reason to be proud with one of the strongest performances they’ve given in a long time, in part due to the monstrous set-up of four-foot-high guitar cabs, carefully curated composition and an excellent combination of stage presence and ability to make the most of their infectious grooves. The entire band works in cohesion, with guitarist Jordan Buck providing the lead for each song with casual indecision, pulling riffs from his guitar strings with the same ease as a magician pulling a rabbit from a hat. While providing most of the juicy hooks that will soon make Inwoods so well known throughout the stoner/desert scene, bassist Kif Kelly also provides an obscene level of onstage presence, so much so that you’ll wish it were you up on stage. Jared Hunter, while usually a consistent linchpin on the drums, showed his ability to garner attention through a swathe of impressive cymbal flairs slipped between each song’s regular groove. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tyson Mahoney is an exquisitely impressive frontman, boasting both blood-curdling, howling growls and tuned-down, skin-prickling cleans that illustrate the band’s ambience-filled tension. An impressive cover of Nirvana’s School was a great addition to their set. 

When Holy Serpent hit the stage it became a reasonable question to ask whether the gloomy weather was a product of nature or had been conjured by the presence of these absolute doom lords. Perfectly tying evil riffs with lurking tempos and diving into the occasional gallop Holy Serpent blitzed through songs from their sought-after self-titled debut, including heavy drone number, Shroom Doom, and the Sabbath-esque Holy Serpent. The vocals of Scott Penberthy are occult-like in nature and evoke images of dark sorcery as the onslaught of brutality unfolds around you. The only thing missing was thunder and lightning above, and perhaps the Beatles covers Penberthy was belting out with drummer Keith Ratnan just hours earlier at a secret house party show.