HIGH ON FIRE strike again; ‘Slave The Hive’ is the band's new single they are giving away free of charge in cooperation with Scion A/V here (or here), complete with a complimenting new video. The high-energy track is HIGH ON FIRE's first new music since their 2012 release ‘De Vermis Mysteriis’. You will remember that the unstoppable American mavericks released a double-disc live album called ‘Spitting Fire Live’ in June/July 2013 through eOne and Century Media; ‘Spitting Fire Live’ was recorded live in two New York City venues; The Music Hall Of Williamsburg and The Bowery Ballroom, and was later mixed by Greg Wilkinson at Earhammer Studios in Oakland, California with additional engineering by CONVERGE's Kurt Ballou. ‘Spitting Fire Live Vol. 1 & Vol. 2’ still awaits your order here (eOne store) and here (CM Distro), as well as on iTunes, Amazon etc. And remember:
“It was the late, great novelist and caffeine enthusiast Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) who said: “Power is not revealed by striking hard or often, but by striking true.” And yet HIGH ON FIRE have managed to do all three:”
HIGH ON FIRE was founded by guitarist and vocalist Matt Pike, bass player George Rice, and drummer Des Kensel in 1999 in Oakland, California. The group released their momentous debut, ‘The Art Of Self Defense’, in 2000 through Man's Ruin Records, with their second collaboration with producer Billy Anderson, 2002's ‘Surrounded By Thieves', coming next on Relapse Records (listen to ‘Eyes And Teeth’ off it here – BandCamp). The founding member Rice was replaced by former MELVINS' Joe Preston before the recording of HIGH ON FIRE's next effort took place, 2005's ‘Blessed Black Wings’ (listen to ‘Devilution’ off it here). Described as “a primal, yet thoroughly modern-sounding heavy metal album” by Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic, the album was produced by Steve Albini, while Jack Endino-produced 2007's ‘Death Is This Communion’, the first album to feature HIGH ON FIRE's current bassist Jeff Matz, was depicted as “the band's finest and most focused moment yet” by Thom Jurek, AllMusic (listen to ‘Fury Whip’ here). Switching to Koch Records (now eOne Music), the band took their time recording their fifth album, 2010's ‘Snakes For The Divine’, but it was worth the wait, according to Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic:
“Indeed, the toothsome trio is on such a roll here, that not even those oft-times second-rate album cuts tucked away towards the end are anything but awe-inspiring, with both the biblically inclined double-kick-drum onslaught of ‘Fire, Flood And Plague’ and the inexorably marching, impossibly evil ‘How Dark We Pray’ practically bursting at the seams with endlessly unpredictable riff sequences and merciless metallic muscle. In short: ‘Snakes For The Divine’ is another physically punishing tour de force from a band whose fans will settle for nothing less, and have rarely been let down - certainly not this time around,” [there is more here, and it is a worthy reading]
HIGH ON FIRE's gloriously unhinged metal saga, ‘De Vermis Mysteriis’, was released in April 2012 on eOne/Century Media. Produced by CONVERGE guitarist Kurt Ballou at God City Studios in Salem, Massachusetts, the album's title (translates as ‘The Mysteries Of The Worm’) is reportedly a nod to a fictional textbook of magic of the same name, conceived by author Robert Bloch:
“It’s a concept record, a little bit,” [offered Matt Pike, the band's founder and once a self-proclaimed juvenile delinquent] “I got this idea about Jesus Christ and the Immaculate Conception: What if Jesus had a twin who died at birth to give Jesus his life? And then what if the twin became a time traveler right then? He lives his life only going forward until he finds this scroll from an ancient Chinese alchemist who derived a serum out of the black lotus - which is actually in Robert E. Howard's “Conan” stories - and then he starts traveling back in time. He can see the past through his ancestors' eyes, but his enemies can kill him if they kill the ancestor that he’s seeing through at the time. Basically, he keeps waking up in other people's bodies at bad times. It’s kinda like that old TV show “Quantum Leap”. Kurt actually pointed that out to me after I told him the idea. But whatever - time travel is a killer concept”
HIGH ON FIRE features: Matt Pike – guitar and vocals, Des Kensel – drums and Jeff Matz – bass
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