{"id":70444,"date":"2018-10-04T14:00:56","date_gmt":"2018-10-04T13:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=70444"},"modified":"2018-10-03T20:10:40","modified_gmt":"2018-10-03T19:10:40","slug":"review-high-on-fire-electric-messiah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-high-on-fire-electric-messiah\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: High On Fire &#8211; Electric Messiah"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-70445 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031-600x600.jpg 600w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031-465x465.jpg 465w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/762031.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Listening to <i>\u2018Electric Messiah\u2019<\/i> by <b>High on Fire<\/b> is like being run over by a freight train for 50 minutes. In fact, since joining with Kurt Ballou at GodCity Studios for 2012\u2019s <i>\u2018De Vermis Mysteriis\u2019<\/i> and 2015\u2019s <i>\u2018Luminiferous\u2019<\/i>, Matt Pike, Jeff Matz and Des Kensel\u2019s sludgy power trio have picked up the pace in a lot of their songwriting and becoming a more intense, punk-driven band for it.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s these rapid-fire moments that provide the highlights on <i>\u2018Electric Messiah\u2019.<\/i>\u00a0The band waste no time showing it off on opener <i>\u2018Spewn From the Earth,\u2019<\/i> which revolves around four minutes of breakneck speed metal riffs, with any potential room to breathe effectively smothered by a power-drilling guitar.<\/p>\n<p>Tracks like <em>&#8216;Spewn\u2026&#8217;<\/em> , the title track and the intense <i>\u2018Freebooter\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2018The Witch and The Christ\u2019 <\/i>see\u00a0<b>High On Fire<\/b>\u00a0at their most feral and untamed. While Ballou\u2019s organic production style emphasises the mud splattering grit of their performance, as Pike vocalises through gnashed teeth while ushering shredding solos effortlessly. These moments feel spontaneous and leave you on edge.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"High On Fire - Electric Messiah\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/op9E1fhyV2Y?feature=oembed&#038;enablejsapi=1&#038;origin=https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, we can\u2019t say the same about the longer tracks on <i>\u2018Electric Messiah\u2019<\/i>. Pike considers\u00a0<i>\u2018Steps From the Ziggurat House of Enlil\u2019<\/i> and <i>\u2018Sanctioned Annihilation\u2019<\/i>\u00a0to be <em>&#8220;Rock Operas&#8221;<\/em>, but with little variation across the stretch of nine and ten minutes, patience is tested. Although these tracks are intended to be grinding and hypnotic in their approach, when the production is more suited for the frantic side of <b>HoF<\/b>, one is left yearning for those faster tracks.<\/p>\n<p>But the fact that <b>High on Fire<\/b> are still experimenting and showing this much ambition 20 years and eight albums into their career is admirable. Though some songs on <i>\u2018Electric Messiah\u2019<\/i> stand out more than others, you never sense that the trio aren\u2019t pushing themselves. It\u2019s inconsistent but still has enough firepower to keep the freight train moving.<\/p>\n<p>3.5\/5<\/p>\n<p><i>&#8216;Electric Messiah&#8217;<\/i> by <b>High On Fire<\/b> is released on October 5th on <b>Entertainment one Music<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>High On Fire<\/b> links: <a href=\"http:\/\/highonfire.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a>|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/highonfire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/HighonFireBand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Andy Davidson (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AndyrfDavidson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@AndyrfDavidson<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Even after 20 years and eight albums,  High On Fire continue to show ambition and experimentation on &#8216;Electric Messiah&#8217;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":70445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[15033,16020,16021,322,15991],"class_list":["post-70444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-andrew-davidson","tag-electric-messiah","tag-entertainment-one-music","tag-eone","tag-high-on-fire"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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