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High On Fire: Surrounded by thieves

24/09/09 || Smalley

I know jack about defunct stoner metallers Sleep; I may be familiar with their music someday, but for right now, there’s no rush. What I do know is the band that Matt Pike, Sleep’s old guitarist, created after their breakup in ’98 is pretty damn cool. You see, take bastard son of Lemmy vocals, mix in a combo of stoner/sludge/groove metal, and sprinkle sheer technicality on top, and what do you have? High On Fire, that’s what! After a solid debut in 2000 with “The art of self defense”, Fire slowly but surely continued developing their odd-duck sound with “Surrounded by thieves”, and while this one isn’t quite as impressive as HoF’s last two efforts, it still satisfies with a honing of the trio’s one-of-a-kind style.

Besides one cool (but very short) solo, “Eyes and teeth” is overly subdued for an opening track, and fails to impress (though it still makes a decent intro to HoF’s style). However, after that little sampler, Fire gives us a veritable buffet of awesomeness on “Hung, drawn and quartered”, with a primal, pounding drum intro, incredibly catchy and speedy riffing, and an extended, vocals-free section that sort feels like an improvisational jam session. The jam session tone there also extends to most of the record’s remaining tracks, but Matt’s hyperactive, extremely technical soloing manages to give the proceedings here enough energy to keep from descending to drone territory (though not to imply at all that the riffs aren’t pretty catchy by themselves). All that makes this a good record to lose yourself in, aurally wandering through the thick, heavy, catchy groove that Fire lays down, and despite the heaviness of the music here, “Surrounded” still almost gives me the same type of relaxation I’d get from pure stoner metal, since there are many moments here that sound like HoF just went to the studio one night, and with little pre-planning, just kicked out a sweet jam to record a track.

This album is almost calming that way, and while I like metal SONGS just as much as the next guy, I also like getting something different, less traditionally-structured when I can. Another thing, I simply love the guitar tones here, how they scream out GRIT, and I especially enjoy Des Kensel’s drumming, those relentlessly energetic, galloping rhythms he makes, and how he puts his cymbals to such good use, making them musical punctuation marks next to the thick soup of guitar… what can I say, the man just kicks ass. As for Matt, some of his solos here are good enough to produce what I like to call “instant metal zen” in me on their own; he’s that skilled a guitarist. Though I think Des is probably a bit better at his respective instrument, this isn’t some kind of metal show-off contest; both members put their formidable skillsets to work for the good of the overall songwriting, not to stroke ego.

Anyway, most of “Surrounded” isn’t quite up to the standard set by “Hung, Drawn and Quarted”, but it’s still catchy, enjoyable stuff regardless. Yes, Matt’s vocal style blatantly apes Lemmy’s (and I don’t even like Lemmy’s vox in the first place), but at least Matt’s still tolerable, and with instrumental work this good, his vocals don’t matter a whole lot anyway. While this isn’t an incredible album on the whole or a must-listen-to-everyday kind of thing, I can’t deny the basic enjoyment I get from it, and although Fire’s continued to tighten up and improve their sound since this came out, “Surrounded by thieves” retains a special little nook of its own in my CD carrier. By the way, good luck with the new album next year guys, I very much look forward to it!

7,5

Information
Released: 2002
Label: Relapse
Website: www.highonfire.net
Band
Matt Pike: guitar, vocals
George Rice: bass
Des Kensel: drums

Tracklist
01. Eyes And Teeth
02. Hung, Drawn and Quartered
03. Speedwolf
04. The Yeti
05. Nemisis
06. Thraft Of Caanan
07. Surrounded By Thieves
08. Razor Hoof

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