Live Review: King Parrot, High Tension, Colossvs, Headbore, Mammoth

A varied yet consistent line-up of heavy metal took over Fowler’s Live on Friday evening.

First cab of the rank was Adelaide’s Mammoth, who constructed a thick wall of sound and endless stoner grooves that’d have Kyuss tipping their hats. Thanks to the use of three guitars and some clerical vocal steeze Mammoth certainly have an ominously awesome beast comprised of grooves that fill you up like hot soup on a winter’s night, except you’re having it funnelled down your throat on a hot summer’s day. Second local opener, Headbore were received equally well, perhaps providing the most traditionally heavy metal sound of the evening with double-kick bass consistency and churning metal riffs. They unleashed the song Temptress, for which they recently released a video, and pleased a happy punter with a vocal mic grab. 

Colossvs then took to the stage with their unique mix of black metal and early 2000s hardcore sensibilities. Their performance was suitably crushing with the pounding of the drums, churning guitar and dual vocal combination consistently beating your soul into the ground as they worked through material from their record, Unholy, and some older and more obscure material in their catalogue. High Tension, who really destroyed the crowd in terms of atmosphere, followed and ensnared them with their truly unique and groundbreaking sound, a four-piece with a strong focus on dynamics and tight riffs that packed mass oomph. Stylistically there were clear Tool influences in High Tension’s lead vocals, with their singer tactfully transforming from Maynard to spectre in the middle of delivering lines. Their energy and stage presence was mesmerising and they stood out bravely as the most alternative band in a line-up whose genre surely attracts the tenure of sour purists, yet High Tension left the stage to much applause. 

King Parrot have not stopped soaring for a number of years now. Their stage show is as much the onstage personality of Matt Young, who has the most insane range and delivery of any vocalist you could pull off the top of your head right now. Charismatic bassist Wayne “Slatts” Slattery, meanwhile, flicks a bead of sweat from his head into the air and catches it in his own mouth. The sold-out crowd has mutated from standing to pulsating as limbs flash and the fastest heaviest, grimiest, thrashiest and filthiest metal down under was poured through their veins.