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2005
Blessed Black Wings
About This Album
For some fans, the news that Steve Albini had been tapped to produce High on Fire's third long-player was a matter of great concern for many reasons -- chief among them, the renowned alternative rock producer's notoriety for ultra-compressed guitar sounds, which seemed utterly at odds with the California trio's most deadly weapon: guitarist and frontman Matt Pike's thundering riffage. Thankfully, such fears ultimately proved unjustified when the end result, 2005's Blessed Black Wings, wound up delivering galloping heavy metal with every bit as much volume and distortion as the band's breakthrough previous effort, Surrounded by Thieves. So much so that the million-dollar question now becomes: "Are the two albums too similar?" Aesthetically, the answer is most certainly yes, since High on Fire's rhythm section (now featuring new bassist Joe Preston, joining longtime drummer Des Kensel) remains every bit as pummeling, and Pike's six-string supremacy just as unchallenged, his solos ever prostrating themselves before the Neolithic power chord onslaught of his cross-the-neck slashing. Tracks like "Devilution," "Cometh Down Hessian," and "Silver Back" are all fire-breathing, semi-thrash rampages; the old-school metal pounding of the title track and closing instrumental "Sons of Thunder" is clearly reverential of Pike's beloved Celtic Frost; and the awe-inspiring, power chord colossus "Brother in the Wind" -- all rippling and tearing of muscle -- easily qualifies as a career highlight on par with anything offered by sterling predecessor Surrounded by Thieves.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,5,6 and 7)

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