Album review: High On Fire's "Electric Messiah"

HIGH ON FIRE

*Electric Messiah*

(E1 Music)

No metalhead seems to be working harder than guitarist/singer-songwriter Matt Pike: Fresh off the success of his other band’s first full-length release in 20 years (Sleep’s “The Sciences”) comes the eighth studio album from his more linear outfit. Opening track “Spewn From The Earth” and title track “Electric Messiah” are uptempo burners with a relentless drumline and fuzzed out power-chords reverberating to the point where it’s not clear where notes begin or end. Pike’s beyond gruffy vocal delivery is lost in this sludgy mix to hypnotic effect. Mid-tempo tracks like “Steps Of The Ziggurat/House Of Enlil” (clocking over nine minutes) and “Sanctioned Annihilation” allow space for the tribal drumming to build. The latter track features the most rhythmic instrumentation with its use of double-bass drumming and syncopated chord strumming. “The Witch And The Christ” is another textured and multi-tempo arrangement that allows drummer Des Kensel to lead the way amid Pike’s fully throated declarations. Where Sleep’s droning ethos causes introspection and daydreaming, High On Fire is the much-needed rude awakening that always seems to follow.
Link to print version of this review that appeared in the January 2019 issue of Illinois Entertainer. Navigate PDF to page 24.

7/10

-Jason Scales