High On Fire is one of the very few bands who are unanimously praised by the public, critics and even the biggest ceremonies in the music industry, despite a sonic identity which should have restricted them to play in a few sticky basements in the South East of the US. Due to their success, but also the quality, efficiency and authenticity of their musical production, it can be intimidating to tackle and review their latest effort “Cometh The Storm”. What analysis can we provide? How can we avoid going for tons of superlatives or overly disillusioned criticism? In the few lines that follow I have tried to give my succinct but honest feelings about this new opus which will undoubtedly dominate the end-of-year toplists.
High On Fire is back after 6 long years of absence, the time for them to digest their Grammy award, to unearth Sleep from its … well, sleep and to return to us with a refreshed line-up adding Coady Willis (Big Business, The Melvins) behind the drumkit.
I could tell you that this album finds brand new ways to abuse your eardrums, but that can be said of every single High On Fire album. If I want to be more specific, what struck me here is the return to a rougher sound than on “Electric Messiah”, if the voice remains very much in front, it seems angrier, more shouted than ever. To illustrate my point, I would say that you can almost hear the splutters that the anti-pop filter must have received in the face during the entire recording session. Some will say that Kurt Ballou has once again done it and brought to the band exactly what was needed to serve these songs and… they will be right.
On the musical side, we land on familiar territories, absolutely massive riffs which, behind their brutality, never shy from challenging our habits by breaking away from the usual accents and rhythmic signatures. From the rhythm section, we feel a slightly more melodic and polished direction in the playing of Jeff Matz and an almost Mastodonian primary explosion (but with fewer artifacts) in the playing of Coady on drums. What emerges from this is a feeling of overwhelming power that we hadn’t felt on the latest records, which were definitely more rock and roll in their approach.
The big novelty is obviously the incursions of Persian music with the use of Turkish string instruments on the bridge of “Lambsbread” and, of course, on the interlude “Karanlik Yol”. Beyond the exoticism of the proposition, the breath of fresh air offered by these references to a somewhat fantasized and, let’s admit it, quite cliché Middle East, proves to be quite effective. This also creates a link between the blocks of concrete thrown at us throughout the album. It serves as a common thread but also a welcomed parenthesis, although slightly too conventional. In a way we were warned! The artwork by Arik Roper already treated us with this pirate ship sailing between clouds in orange tones… how could we not see an allusion to the tales of Sinbad the Sailor and saffron?
For the rest, it’s up to you to sort out the surges of riffs that fall on you for almost an hour. Personally one of my highlights is the heavy stoner metal riff of “Burning Down”, the rhythmic hammering that accompanies it and this fuzz sound, ready to collapse at any moment, made it a logical choice as a first single. We face a similar atmosphere on the main riff of “Tough Guy”.
The title track offers us tapping melody and a two-guitar playing that almost leans towards Gojira from the Magma era while the singing becomes more melodic (Mastodon anyone?). The heaviness of the choruses is a real deliverance and reaches a rare level of satisfaction.
“The Beating” is intended to be an almost hardcore punk number and clearly leans on their Motorhead-like songs. This also has the guitar solo that I found to be the most effective and striking on the record. “Lightning Beard” is definitely akin to Thrash metal (quality Thrash!). “Hunting Shadows” dives into an epic metal endeavor. Luckily, thanks to the HoF touch, it remains incredibly powerful and personal. Finally, on “Darker Fleece”, Matt Pike and his bandmates offer us a more noisy aspect and a doom / sludge dissonant finale, heavy like a stormy sky on a summer evening.
As always, High on Fire delivers an album that appears obvious and easy to digest at first, but proves to be more diverse and relevant the more you listen to it. Still at the top of the food chain of Sludge, the combo continues to break necks with each new production.
ARTISTE: High On Fire
ALBUM: Cometh The Storm
RELEASED: 19 April 2024
LABEL: MNRK Heavy
GENRE: Heavy metal / sludge / thrash
MORE: Bandcamp
Last modified: 20 June 2024
