High On Fire - Snakes For The Divine

Band: High On Fire
Album: Snakes For The Divine
Label: E1
Year: 2010
Rating: 82%

Tracklist:
1. Snakes For The Divine
2. Frost Hammer
3. Bastard Samurai
4. Ghost Neck
5. The Path
6. Fire, Blood & Plague
7. How Dark We Pray
8. Holy Flames Of The Fire Spitter

In High On Fire's world, there is no such thing as progress. The band's primordial assault has remained obstinately unchanged through lineup changes, producer turnover, label swaps and an ever-evolving heavy music landscape. This is not to say that all of their music sounds the same however. Their Jurassic thud has slowly evolved in terms of speed and compositional complexity, steadily growing more 'metal' with each release, but at its core, the music retains the same suffocating obsession with raw power and sheer heaviness that it always had. Each of their previous four albums have built upon what has come before, but hearing Snakes For The Divine for the first time, no one could doubt that this is the same Oakland power trio that shook the earth on 2000's mighty The Art Of Self-Defense.
This is a good thing, because very few bands are capable of producing the kind of noise that High On Fire do; furious battle metal that rages across the landscape like a pack of charging elephants. Midtempo stoner-boogie bands and mathy post-thrash metal bands are a dime a dozen these days, but few musicians have had the good sense and chops to find the sweet spot between Metallica's Kill 'em All, Celtic Frost's To Mega Therion and Black Sabbath's Sabotage. Never sacrificing their primal essence in favor of showing off their considerable chops, High On Fire do what they do better than anyone this side of Motörhead, and here's hoping they keep doing it for years to come.

To be honest, 2007's Death Is This Communion is a mighty tough act to follow. Produced by the legendary Jack Endino, the record was a culmination of everything that High on Fire had striven to perfect. It had a fantastic collection of songs, and managed to tie them all together in such a way that the whole album moved like a multi-headed riff colossus, single minded in its determination to lay waste to the world. Acoustic interludes and Pike's best vocal performances yet made the record an engaging listen that was heavy but varied in texture and mood and easily accessible to both heavy rock and metal fans. A classic heavy metal album by any measure, it made for the most dynamic release of their career.

Snakes For The Divine doesn't quite live up to its predecessor. For starters, it does away with many of the interesting stylistic detours that made Death Is This Communion such a listenable record. It rewarded patience and attention, and encouraged active listening. This album is much more straight forward, basically grabbing hold and scorching along with the heaviness on full the entire 46 minutes. Personally, I believe that High On Fire have the ability to vary their tempo and drum and vocal patterns enough to complement Pike's never-ending supply of riffs and remain engaging throughout, but even the best metal risks exhausting the listener and turning to a destructive blur when left to rage at top intensity for too long.

The production may also be a point of contention for some long-time fans. Instead of sticking with Endino, High On Fire turned to Greg Fidelman, fresh off of producing Slayer's World Painted Blood. This was maybe not the best choice. Slayer has always been addicted to speed, and their chaotic frenzy is often pushed too far for too long at the expense of a truly crushing riff. I listened to 'Angel of Death' on half-speed one time and it just made me wish those guys would just try some Quaaludes or something. Fidelman does do a good job giving High on Fire the sharpest and cleanest production job they've ever had. This serves the band well on more complex pieces like the title track, which seems to sprout viciously serrated riffs the way a hydra grows heads. On hard-charging thrasher 'Fire, Flood & Plague,' Kensel's thunderous pummeling double-bass work has more punch than ever before. Personally however, I preferred the slightly muddier and beefier sound that Endino brought to the band. As technically proficient as they have become, sludge will always be their strongest suit. I can't help but think that a meaty dirge like Snakes highlight 'Bastard Samurai' would have sounded even more crushing with Endino working the boards. Structurally it is actually a better song than Death's equivalent self-titled track. The former exchanges the latter’s torpid grind for a powerful feel of tension and release which results in explosive payoffs and bloodthirsty growls from Pike. Ultimately, your opinion of where this album sits in the High On Fire canon will depend entirely on which side of the fence you sit on.

The performances of all three musicians are masterful, each a true virtuoso on his instrument. High On Fire understands that they don't need to play circles around a riff just to strut their stuff, but that doesn't stop them from dropping some righteous shredding when the occasion demands it. On the wickedly destructive 8-minute war metal gorefest, "How Dark We Prey," they build an enormous wall of droning riffage and get the fuck of its way as it lays waste to everything in its path. Soon after however, they cut this lumbering beast into bloody ribbons by laying down some jaw-droppingly awesome breaks and jacking up the intensity. Matt Pike's savage guitar riffs and Des Kensell's bludgeoning drum assault are more focused and precise than ever before; despite the cleaner sound and more agile compositions, High On Fire have lost none of their elemental ferocity. Jeff Matz, formerly of Zeke, returns for his second album with the band and holds down the low end with authority. His dirty, overdriven tone will liquefy solid tissue at the proper volume.

Pike's vocals here are more prominent in the mix than ever before, and his performance shows how far he has really come in the last decade as a front man. From the hoarse croak he used on the first two records to the wizened bellow that commands legions of banging heads now, his growth has a vocalist been one of the most satisfying aspects of High On Fire's career. The lyrics are the same D&D battle fantasies that Pike has always preferred, and if you're anything like me, you'll think that they're totally awesome (Highlights: SON OF A BITCH WILL BLEED A WHILE!!!" & "FROST HAMMER! FROST HAMMER! FROST HAMMER! FROST HAMMEEEEEEEEER!!!") Pike's voice has also been treated in the studio more than ever before. "Frost Hammer" even features brief snatches of clean harmonized vocal lines which will appeal to fans of Mastodon's Crack The Skye.

If this is your first experience with this band, it will serve as a fine example of what they are all about. Suffice it to say, if you like what Snakes For The Divine has to offer, you can't go wrong by seeking out any of their other releases. For over a decade now this band has remained at the top of its game, and Snakes For The Divine gives every indication that these guys will be slaying ogres and crushing skulls for many battles to come.