Arrowhead – Coven of the Snake

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When we think about Australia, there are 3 things that come to mind: kangaroos, spiders and the heat. At least that’s what comes to mind with me. Well it’s time to bring up another good thing from down under: the bands. With a plethora of fantastic death metal coming from there with such acts as PORTAL, GUTLESS and GOLGOTHAN REMAINS. All the way to stoner rock bands like SMOKE WITCH, SKULLCAVE and our main focus today, ARROWHEAD.

Hailing from Sydney we given a pretty straight forward Stoner Rock band with no real frills and to the point. Summoning their inner Iommi with down-tuned rhythms and vocals that really cut through the mix. Starting in 2009 we have a collection of an EP and two full-lengths, the last one being “Desert Cult Ritual” in 2015. After four years, they have really matured their sound, incorporating a lot of influences and giving us a nice, lengthy album.

With the first infectious riff of ”Coven of the Snake” and the vocal harmonies reminiscent of a newer ALICE IN CHAINS song, it’s a catchy track with good guitar work. Alongside the fantasy-driven lyrics of “All Seeing Eye”, more Iommi-like riffs ring out. The song later hits you with a drone riff that echoes through the song, creating a nice atmosphere.

Moving on to the middle of the album, “Root of Evil” proves to be the weakest song on the album both lyrically and musically. It gives us a generic side of the album that I think sounds maybe like a B-side. However, the next song, “Dopeanaught”, is strangely unique, with parts that almost have a CHEAP TRICK feel to it. The main riff in unison with the vocals make it feel more old school than really any of the other songs on the album.

Overall this is nothing fancy. It’s a pretty straight-forward Stoner Rock album that misses the point in parts but is still sturdy enough to keep you going if you’re into the type of music. With a decent runtime it doesn’t overstay its welcome unless you can’t get past some of the cheesy lyrics. That’s the biggest downfall on the album with some good memorable riffs and a decent production to bring it all to life.

Songwriting: 7
Originality: 4
Memorability: 3
Production: 7