High on Fire - 19 Nov 2007 - Debaser

I heard about High on Fire back in 2001, when their second album, "Surrounded by Thieves" came out. I can't for the life of me remember the who, what, when, where or how about them, but I remember putting in that album and having the pants blown off of me. Punishingly brutal. And although they've slightly deviated from their earlier sound, they've managed to keep the stoner torch burning bright with relentless riffage and power.

That said, seeing High on Fire on stage is 1000 times more powerful than any CD they've managed to record. You just can't capture that sort of energy on a piece of plastic. Matt Pike (guitarist/singer) has this charisma on stage thats inexplicable. Sort of grungy, with raw animal intensity....its mind-altering to say the least. No shirt, stinking, dripping wet with sweat by the end of the set. Fuck. It really doesn't get any more fucking metal than that. I'd give anything to get inside that guy's head for just two minutes. Anything.

Anyhow, enough about my infatuation with Matt Pike.

Opening for them was a rather disappointing emo-indie-ambient-ish band called "Pelican". I swear to you, I nearly fell asleep during their set. I can't imagine why High on Fire would tour with such a band, except to make themselves sound even more punishing, by sheer contrast, than they already do. Guys, it wasn't necessary.

Their set was amazing, and contained some old favorites, as well as new selections from their most recent album, "Death is this Communion".

Check out the video for "Rumors of War" (from "Death is this Communion"):


\m/
-parastoo-