THOSE GUITARS ARE HUGE // High On Fire - Snakes For The Divine // Composer Reaction & Analysis

[@BifrostMR]

Technicaly this is more sludge metal (harsh/agressive vocals and slow/mid tempo riffs), and this specific song is a bit more «heavy metal» than most of their songs, altho many of them have a strong Motorhead vibe to them. Absolutely a great band! Their new album, released earlier this year was also great and worth checking out!

[@erosionoc5557]

You could maybe argue HoF's first album is sludge adjacent, but they've left that doom influence decidedly behind for a long time now.

[@markblaauw4961]

Such a nice surprise. There are absolute beautiful hidden treasures in metalbandland.

[@musstakrakish]

Check out Aeon Winds and oranssi pazuzu! And Blood Incantation if you haven't already. Absolutely insane bands

[@progperljungman8218]

This song is somewhat like a mix between AC/DC, Motörhead and a bit of Mastodon. Great song with tremendous groove! I've been fortunate enough to hear it two times live. They list as Stoner metal, Sludge metal and Thrash metal @wiki. So, they're certainly METAL 😁

[@musstakrakish]

Lemmy lives!! Abbath picking up the Lemm in his last album too 🤘

[@BradCynical]

the thin guitar you kept hearing is the bass guitar. thats why the low end seems to drop out.

[@donniebarbados]

definitely stoner metal and not rock. this was the song that got me into high on fire, but framing it as "motorhead turned to 11" was what really unlocked them for me. matt pike is a legend. some high on fire song recs: fury whip speedwolf return to NOD 10,000 years gods of the godless burning down do NOT look up matt pike's views on anything lol. (i did meet him once and he was very nice) some stoner metal recs: church of misery - killifornia (ed kemper) monolord - forgotten lands yob - atma acid king - electric machine weedeater - god luck and good speed bongzilla - gateway

[@progperljungman8218]

Isn't Church of Misery more doom?

[@donniebarbados]

i think the blues/sabbath influence is present enough to fit under the stoner doom/stoner metal umbrella

[@BrianYates-ue8hf]

Matt Pike is a legend in the stoner heavy sludgey genre The drumming is so inventive and sounds like it shouldn't fit but does And that bass tone is so filthy it should be in hand cuffs haha Since its stoner rock week I really hope you do the Ukraine band STONED JESUS I AM THE MOUNTAIN It's considered the Stairway To Heaven of Stoner Rock ✌️🧐🤘🖤😎

[@tropiq]

im not big into high on fire but this song, this song does it for me, definitely my favorite from them

[@ProgPro96]

It's funny to see this reaction drop the same week Lost In Vegas did this exact song, what a coincidence

[@musstakrakish]

High on Fire is currently my favorite band. Not a single bad song. With Blood Incantation and Oranssi Pazuzu and Abbath a few years back we're in a golden age of Metal. Also Stoned Jesus sent me here 🤘💨

[@jay-remedy-plz]

These guys are iconic in the same way as Lemmy and Motörhead. To me they just rock out and give me a shot of gravel and adrenaline. Scott "Wino" Weinrich and Spirit Caravan/ The Obsessed carved out a special place in the same way. There’s another rabbit hole for you!

[@Lebowski55]

I don't enjoy much Metal music but High on Fire is my favorite Metal band

[@hablibubli8648]

Hurray some HoF! One of my comfort bands. You kinda always know what you get with them. Let's just say they have a very consistent style and sound. Funnily enough I then critique the production of this album :D Their early work was very fuzzed out, sludgy and kinda messy but a massive sound. Their albums after this would be produces by Kurt Ballou of Converge. He has done great work with the band giving them a crushing sound. Especially the drums. Snakes for the Divine feels kinda thin and.... weak in comparison I suppose. Unfortunate because the album has some real neat songs. As said , Hof has a really consistent sound leaning in some influences more each time. This is for sure more of their heavy metal style. Very riff centric playing, groovy drums and the songs take their time enjoying the riffs and grooves. I just think other albums have better production and more interesting ideas as I think this song drags a little. A little bit toooo much of riff-vibing. My favourite album is their next one from this 'De Vermiis Mysteriis.' Crushing, trashy album. So gritty, in your face, still groovy and has even some clean-ish singing and balladry. Surprisingly varied album and definitely my go to when it comes to HoF. One word that comes to mind with HoF is 'consistenty' and both good and bad. You kinda always know what you'll get, but it can at times feels same-y. They do spice things up with punk, heavy metal, stoner, trash and turkish folk buuuuut after a while, you kinda get it. Still, can't be too mad with HoF. Also, Matt Pike the vocalist/quitarist is often called Americas Lemmy Kilmister so the Motorhead comparison is understandable :p Motorhead and Black Sabbath are probably Pike's biggest influences. That and weed. Thanks for the reaction! Good Stuff!

[@LuDux]

Living In A Box, by Living In A Box from Living In A Box LP: kzbin.info/www/bejne/naalpIOhitCDh8k I guess most amazing thing about this is list of artists that BV worked with en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tessa_Niles

[@tiarkrezar]

This band gets lumped in with stoner/sludge/doom mostly because of Matt Pike and his previous band Sleep, which would've been a perfect fit for the week. Sure you'll find hints of it in their songs, but otherwise they're mostly doing their own thing. It very much feels rooted in classic heavy metal + lots of thrashy ideas and Motorhead worship.

[@SanskarWagley]

Crazy you’ve never heard this yet

[@progperljungman8218]

That "tiny guitar" is actually mostly playing the "intro lick" (see, now you gotta go listen to that again out of curiosity, right?😊)

[@toddegoldberg]

Tis the bass, methinks.

[@gene7442]

Hey Brian, Yeh, I hear Motorhead and Discharge. Able Baker by Blue Heron (Desert Rawk) it's a groove...

[@Postmetal]

i thought about requesting sleep - dopesmoker for stoner rock week but might of been to long. 😂

[@toddegoldberg]

Sleep puts me to sleep but I do get high on fire. Although a torche may light the way. More doompop than stoner but...whatever.

[@jasonadams2]

Matt Pike knows riffs.

[@homelessbird2819]

This song makes me feel like a doomy pig in an infernal slop and I’ll keep on rolling in it! 😂

[@brandonwoldridge1417]

I know it’s tedious to hear from the genre police, but High on Fire is in no way “stoner rock”. Matt Pike was in Sleep, yes - which was a stoner doom band - but High on Fire is f’n heavy metal. Their earlier output was rooted in doom, and they’ve drifted toward being a thrash band on the last several albums, including this one. The drumming alone makes it not stoner rock, but so do the vocals, guitar riffs and - hell, everything. WRONG.

[@wilbur112]

I’ve always considered them stoner metal personally

[@nicolashunter4131]

High on Fire is not stoner at all, they´re a lot heavier than stoner bands

[@ysteinnilsen699]

High On Fire seems a tad out of place imo, bit heavier than stoner rock. Could have done Fu Manchu, Truckfighters, Unida, Dozer, Fatso Jetson, Acid King, The Atomic Bitchwax etc the list goes on. That being said I absolutely love High On Fire and I wanna see you react to more of them, I don't really like the drum production/mixing on this album. Death Is This Communion was one of the first albums I bought on CD for myself as a teen. God the riff on Blessed Black Wings is so good.

[@KevinUchihaOG]

High on Fire might not be the best "stoner metal/rock" representative. They have elements of stoner in them, the lead guitarist and singer is a founding member of the very influential stoner metal band SLEEP. So aspects of his stoner riffing sips into high on fire. But other than the riffing, i wouldnt say high on fire is stoner. Its to fast paced to be true stoner. With that said, SLEEP might be THE "stoner metal"-sound. If you want to hear what "stoner metal" with no other influences sound like. Many newer stoner bands have psychedelic, prog or other influences. Sleep is just pure stoner.

[@Ratamahatatatatatatatatata]

T-shirts for Matt Pike!