Death Is This Communion
*Death Is This Communion* unveils new bass player Jeff Matz of Zeke and producer Jack Endino who has worked with Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Tad — but High On Fire’s fourth studio album hardly echoes grungy vestiges of the Pacific Northwest’s heyday. From the first few weighty bars of the opening “Fury Whip” you can still hear subtle remnants of frontman/guitarist Matt Pike’s riff-bending prowess that many a hessian fell for on his former band Sleep’s 1993 opus *Holy Mountain*. And as soon as he starts growling like the bastard son of Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister over more dynamic arrangements, it’s evident that this album marks an evolution in sound for High On Fire. It all becomes much clearer on “Waste of Tiamat” as high-strung acoustic guitars open to sound like medieval lutes before the riffs drop like anvils and a bludgeoning drum solo opens the gates of Pike’s Hell. “Khanrad’s Wall” is an instrumental that experiments with tambour and 12-string acoustic to approximate a cross between the Middle East and Middle Earth.
The almighty High on Fire reemerge from the shadows to conquer the masses with their signature brand of brazen metal. From the rampaging Rumors of War and Fury Whip, through the hypnotic riffs of Ethereal and the album's title track, Death Is This Communion is High on Fire's masterwork.
Another in a recent batch of strong discs reviewed this week, HIGH ON FIRE's "Death is this Communion" sees the band expanding its sound, if only slightly, but continuing to serve up its patented smoke-billowing locomotive metal. The disc is the trio's most varied to date, weaving atmospheric elemen...