High On Fire
Blessed Black Wings

THE REVIEW

The genius of Matt Pike has struck again. The third album of his new band, High on Fire, indeed buries everything and everyone... Cavernous, dark, relentless...
The historic bassist George Rice is gone, and Joe Preston (do the Melvins ring a bell??) has arrived, but most importantly, there has been a break with his longtime producer Billy Andersen, replaced by none other than Steve Albini... Matt's compulsive and powerful riffing meshes with Des Kensel's amazing pulverizing drumming in an incredible way, creating walls of "dirty" sound that occasionally (only occasionally though!) veer into flourishes that somewhat remind of Matt's old and magnificent group: Sleep!

Nine tracks, 53 minutes and small change demonstrating how the Oakland band has achieved the feat of making an album that is so sparse, raw, annihilating, monolithic that after a few listens it's likable for precisely this reason. Thrash, sludge, stoner all blended in an original and furious way, yet if one can say, concealed jealously behind the monumental sound characteristic of this great band; I don't want to name one song over another, the album's opening suffices to explain everything: tribal drums and then... well listen to it!!! It really seems that upon first listen, this album repels you because it is so dense, dark, and challenging, but afterwards it's something fantastic... A mental journey created by someone who knows a thing or two about musical (and not only!!) mental journeys: Jerusalem by Sleep... someone remembers them, right?? Everything bursts with the devastating ending of the album: "To cross the bridge" and "Silver Back" two gems that push the album to its limit, which instead closes with "Sons of Thunder" a psychedelic ride that ferries the listener out of this nightmare (in a good sense, of course!!) in music. Forget their previous albums "The Art Of Self-Defense" and "Surrounded By Thieves" both still very valid and dive into what in my very humble opinion is a masterpiece period.

P.s: live they are nothing short of earth-shaking!! Don't miss them on April 22 at Bloom... I eagerly await approvals, denials, and damnations!