Snakes For The Divine

It happens every single year. As soon as I feel ready to finally give up on my favorite music genre, along comes an album that manages to sound fresh and transcends the overhyped trendy bands that crowd a long creatively dry scene, singlehandedly restoring my faith on heavy metal, humanity and all that's good with the world. In 2010, High on Fire's Snakes for the Divine was such album. Folks, this is 100% pure, skull-crushing metal that transcends useless subgenre labels and gives all those insipid, trendy post whatevercore bands a much needed knee deep kick in the rear. Longtime fans of the band feared that choosing Greg Fidelman as the producer of this album would result in a disaster, because of his previous work on Slayer's World Painted Blood and Metallica's Death Magnetic. Considering that this band had such luminaries as Steve Albini and Jack Endino sitting on the producer chair on previous offerings, he had some gigantic shoes to fill, and thankfully, did a much better job than anyone could expect. Even if this is the cleanest sounding album by High on Fire, it's still massive and powerful, with all the instruments expertly placed in the mix. Des Kensel's powerhouse performance deserves a special mention: a multitude of so called metal drummers could learn a thing or two about technique, groove, dynamics, and finally, how to hit the skins like the hammer of the gods instead of sounding like a pathetic click track just from listening to this record. The album's opening eponymous track starts with a surprisingly out of character unaccompanied tapping intro, similar to the beginning of AC/DC's Thunderstruck. After forty five seconds, the rhythm guitar drops in, and the band punishes the listener for eight and a half glorious minutes. The aptly titled second track, Frost Hammer, crushes the listener to submission and even if the brooding third track, Bastard Samurai, has a longer fuse, when it finally catches fire turns into a slab of pure, unadulterated headbanging nirvana. After frontloading an album with an unforgiving trio of metal anthems like these, a slight quality drop is understandable in the songs that follow. Luckily, when it comes to a band like this, this just means going from supernaturally godlike to merely superhumanly mythical heaviness. Other notable standouts from the album are Ghost Neck, which twists and turns like a tornado and How Dark We Pray, which features some of Matt Pike's best and most melodic lead work to date. This is heavy metal at its finest, and my favorite release for the year 2010. Buy it, High on Fire needs and deserves the unconditional support of headbangers worldwide.

Consider this a twin review of "Snakes For The Divine" and "Death Is This Communion", since I've bought the two CD's only a few days apart. After coming home after a long hard day at work, I love to put severely heavy music on the stereo. It's kind of revitalizing, but mainly I just dig it, and always have. So when I visited High On Fire on You Tube, after only one tune I knew I was onto something, and I was right. What greeted me was a punishing attack the likes of which haven't been seen since Motorhead's first three or four albums. Funny I should mention Motorhead, when singer/guitarist Matt Pike's vocal delivery is eerily like Lemmy's drink a glass of Drano croak. Not that HOF is a Motorhead knockoff. Far from it. What HOF brings us is a brilliant songwriter and equally impressive guitarist in Matt Pike, and a rhythm section so powerful it'd make a thunderstorm wet its pants. We get fat guitar that recalls a cross between Fast Eddie Clarke's fat sound and Slayer's speed and attack. What a lethal combo. All the while HOF recalls some of the stoner movement's sludgier outfits, like Sleep and Kyuss. This ain't no stoner rock per se, though. High On Fire are a lot faster and more proficient on their instruments. This is true metal, and takes the genre into some newer territory. While "Death Is This Communion" is a bit more moody, "Snakes For The Divine" is more of a straight ahead onslaught, both CD's capable of turning your gray matter into pudding. Indeed, they could have been a double album, but that's okay. Only the most brutal bands dare share a stage with this trio. Lamb Of God, Kreator, Machine Head, Behemoth or Morbid Angel could hold their own, but others should probably wait if HOF comes to town at least six months after they've left before they get on stage again.

Another great offering by HOF. If you only owned one of their albums, this should probably be it.

This album is another fine production from a band who continues to hone their skills and shred like mad. Matt Pike is playing a custom 9 string, that's right 9 strings! As High on Fire is a power trio it is up to Pike to provide a lot of background noise which he happily does. While not as technical as "Death Is This Communion" or "Blessed Black Wings" this latest album showcases the progress made by every member of the band. Strong vocals, ripping guitar and a back beat that drives your heart through your chest is the best way I can describe this newest album. If this is your first taste of High on Fire you will not be disappointed. Prepare to be amazed by how much sound three talented musicians can make.

I've followed High on Fire closely since the Billy Anderson-produced first two records and have eagerly looked forward to each of the three ensuing albums. This is a band that takes it mission seriously--a no-nonsense, relentless dedication to the craft of metal-forging while refusing to fall into the trap of self-parody that has been the inevitable path of countless pretenders. Their last release, Death is This Communion, merely satisfied, offering alot in the way of artistic experimentation but seeming to meander at times. Snakes For the Divine, however, is a metal Tour de Force, from the Angus Young-ish opening guitar sequence on the title track through Des Kensel's double-bass drum laydown on the final track, Holy Flames of the Fire Spitter. On Snakes, the group seems more tightly focused on keeping up the pummeling throb of pounding, sludgy controlled chaos of earlier, classic tracks like Blood From Zion and Hung, Drawn and Quartered. The evolution of Matt Pike's vocal style into a Lemmy Kilmister howl on the previous two releases distracted us from the music, so the altered vocals we get on the new record keep the listener's focus in the right places. Having seen High on Fire live on each album tour, I sense that the band's essence--the sweaty, brawny riff-ridden hypnotic experience they deliver onstage--is better replicated in Snakes For the Divine. In fact, the altered production on Snakes--popping bass notes from Jeff Matz and Kensel's steady bass thump (on Fire, Flood and Plague the beat resembles the precision of an old-fashioned typewriter)--might be the chief element that brings the overall sound closer to HOF's earlier releases. And for their longtime fans, that's what we've been waiting for...again.

Matt Pike, Des Kensel, and Jeff Matz have fulfilled some lofty expectations with another skull-banger of an album. These guys stay true to their aesthetic blueprint, but if it ain't broke, there ain't a point in fixin' it. Rest assured, HoF is rampaging as hard as ever. Contrary to the opinion of some, I have to say that the second half of the album flows well and crushes at least as mightily as the first half - which features the rather contemplative (but no less awesome) "Bastard Samurai." Snakes is riff-tastic from start to finish, and just like all previous HoF albums seems to get better and more better-flowing with each listen. The very minor knocks I would note are the quantity of tracks (seven without the 1:20 "The Path) and production, but these points come with qualifications: the songs are enjoyably extensive and I could not have criticized the production without analysis from minds more knowledgeable than mine. Suffice to say that I (like most) thought the sound of DITC to be perfect, and Snakes would have benefited from the same treatment. Still, Pike and Co. are going as strong as ever, and the material here is tops. Snakes is one of the most necessary record purchases of 2010, no doubt. Bonus points for the sick and truly metal artwork!

This is a loud, thundering, sonic slab-of-noise! If you like a combo of metal/stoner/sludge/garage-band/hardcore/punk, this album is right up your a..uh, alley! It's not quiet as varied as Death Is This Communion, but it is equally hard and intense. The songs are even more simple (Neanderthal!) in structure than DITC, but, pretty much from start to finish, this album is bursting with monster rhythms and sounds. It does not sound like the Ramones, but it reminds me of listening to the first Ramones LP back in 1976: it slams the listener against the wall, relentlessly! Well, almost -- there's a slow doomy track or two, but they do not detract from the excitement. The production work kinda sucks, cos one wishes the (excellent) drums weren't buried quite so much in the mix. The drums propell HoF, along with Matt Pike's throat-ripping vocals and guitar(s). I've seen HoF live twice, and this album DOES seem to capture their live feel, more than their previous albums (and that can be a good thing...). This is HoF's heaviest album.

I kind of agree with the reviewer that said it wasn't what they were expecting after Death is This Communion, because that album just felt like such a huge record with tons of sonic texture and all of these crazy soundscapes, and I thought it was cool. This record feels like they scaled it back and just went balls out to do what a power trio should do, bring the maximum thunder with what you got and I feel that's what this band is all about and what makes them so badass... it's High On Fire man, and it's a good feeling to know that they are making records that are, for the most part, unwavering in that they're formula for heaviness remains intact, so that one day, like 20 or 30 years from now I can pull out my old HOF records and go "Dude, hell yeah!" (horns!). This record was a little over-hyped in the magazines as far as making it seem like they're putting out they're "Black Album" or something, but I guess that's what magazines and press are for... This review is somewhat unnecessary though, as HOF are one of those love em'/hate em' bands imo... and if you're a fan, you will buy this and Rock the F out!!

過去ライブ二回見ました。 初期の三枚くらいの印象が強いけど、 この古典的なメタルフレーズで始まるのも面白い。 ジャケも超メタル。 色々な音楽を貪欲に聴いている人が何周もして やるメタルかな。

Volendo completare la mia collezione in vinile degli High on fire ed essendo Snakes for the divine il vinile che mi mancava finalmente decido di aquistarlo dato che si fa sempre piu' difficile reperirlo.Questa e' la versione della V1 music : lussuoso gatefold LP in doppio vinile per un album che sicuramente non e' il migliore degli H.O.F. ma sicuramente e' un lavoro molto valido. Arrivato in tempi veloci,imballaggio professionale. Che dire.....ai fans degli High on fire nulla,a coloro che ancora non li conoscono dategli un ascolto.....

This album is truly a masterpiece. Snakes for the Devine is the only High on Fire album I own, but prior to this I bought 'Dopesmoker' by Sleep, also featuring Matt Pike - what a guitarist! Where to start? The title track is the best song on the album, but that's not to say the rest of the album is weak in any way. Far from it! So how does it all begin? With a solo of sorts, (not a twiddly solo, but a solo in the same way as Sweet Child o'Mine starts - clean, soloish, but really it's just a killer riff!) and then the drums and the distortion both kick in. The drums! This guys pounds the skins. All furious double bass and crashing symbols. Safe to say the drumming is very good; as is the bass. Nothing fancy; no slapping or bass solos - it mostly follows the sound of the guitars, but ties it all down and rumbles with a nice thick sludgy sound. Speaking of sludgy, it's a pretty good way to describe Pikes vocals, but sludgy in a good way. It genuinely sounds like he's constantly gargling whisky. The voice sounds a bit Lemmyish, but a lot courser, (if possible). The vocals certainly have a deathy edge, but don't be mistaken, they're not death metal vocals. Think more 'Machine Head' Rob Flynn, but with more of a bar-room-brawl sound. Needless to say the vocals fit the music perfectly. And so the music - it's dominated by the guitar of Matt Pike. Riff after riff; speed riffs, groove riffs, (just listen to the title track at about the six-minute mark after the solo ends - one of the best head-nodding grooves you'll ever hear with Matt Pike screaming over the top!) solo-like riffs; this guy can play. Most of it's at breakneck speed - but it's not just noise. It's not speed metal, it's just relentless muscular metal. Lamb of God use the tagline 'pure american metal' - well this is the real deal. the guitars aren't sharp; they churn. They grab hold of your gut and pull down on your throat forcing your head to nod in agreement. There are actual solos tossed around, but they never out-stay their welcome. The solos are technically excellent for sure, but this band are all about the riffs. This is muscular metal through and through. It's not really stoner rock, (but there are elements) it only really gets really thrashy on `Ghost Neck' which is a bit Slayer-like, (only heavier - maybe not as nasty) and it only really slows down on `B*stard Samurai' (with an uber heavy chorus) and `How dark we Pray' (which has a heavy as hell almost tribal mid section). On the whole it's just punishing, (somehow melodic) dirty metal. The whole album is a visceral assault. It never lets up from start from finish. The production? Top drawer as well - it's hard to describe though. Every instrument is trying to be louder than the other, but at the same time everything can be clearly heard. It's got a dirty production, but it's not badly produced by any means. It's loud, but not shrill. The guitars are thick, the drums, (as mentioned) pound, and the bass curls around. It's about the most air-tight record I've heard; very addictive, every track makes you want to head bang. This album is definitely one of the best metal releases of recent years. It's right up there with Machine Head's 'The Blackening,' Mastodon's 'Blood Mountain' and 'Crack the Skye' and Lamb of God's 'Ashes of the Wake'....it's not as creative as those albums, but that's no bad thing! It's dirtier than all of them combined and all the better for it. A true thunderous rollicking metal album, buy Snakes for the Divine for the title track alone, and then marvel at how the rest of the album pretty much keeps the pace throughout. Exceptional.

Plus grand chose a voir avec l'étiquette stoner, il s'agit la d'un album de pure metal dans la lignée des plus grands comme blak sabbath avec le speed et une voix cassée a la motorhead, ça latte sévère avec des passages plus lent et envoutant. une grande claque donc comme on en prend rarement depuis pantera.

This might be the best sounding record I own. It has a thick wall of sound and depth and the drums are like cannons going off. I thought this album was great on cd but on vinyl it's on another level.