(E1/Shock)

Pike’s power-trio blowing smoke

Formed out of the ashes of stoner metal legends Sleep, High On Fire have been one of the most consistent and crushing heavy metal acts of the new millennium. The band cemented their punishing, heavy stoner metal sound on their lauded by the underground releases Blessed Black Wings (2005) and Death Is This Communion (2007), showing off their penchant for mystical lyrics and a tasty equilibrium between dirge riffs and epic choruses. The band’s fifth full-length, Snakes For The Divine, however, sonically deviates from the band’s string of classic albums. The most heinous crime perpetrated by the three-piece on Snakes is the glaringly obvious shortcomings in production. Upon first spinning this record, it feels as though acclaimed knob twiddler Greg Fidelman (Slayer, Johnny Cash) is misrepresenting HOF’s sound. Pike’s vocals are muddied into the mix, failing to match the meaty, bone-rattling resonance of the title tracks from High On Fire’s last two records. Then there are the songs; most are the Motörhead-influenced metal & roll style that the band flirted with on Death Is This Communion – unapologetically pushing past the six-minute mark and burying great riffs between overblown solos and unpolished jams. While it’s tempting to write Snakes For The Divine off as an inessential High On Fire album or even talk shit about how the band ditched their label Relapse and moved to indie giant E1, tracks like the album stand-out Bastard Samurai are molten dirge epics that make this record hard to totally dismiss.

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TOM HERSEY

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