Sleep/High On Fire

Any other fans? I have recently discovered these guys. For those who don't know Sleep is like this classic stoner band who I think are excellent. Members went on to form High On Fire which is a decidedly faster, more metal, yet excellent (IMO) band.

If you want to know where to start I would recommend Sleep's Sleep's Holy Mountain. Dragonaught is a killer. For High on Fire Death Is This Communion is very very good RIYL The Sword


http://www.myspace.com/rifffilledland

http://www.myspace.com/highonfireslays

I love Holy Mountain and the Vol. 2 EP by SLEEP. Both are classics of the genre, IMO.

I owned all of their other releases at one point, but they never really blew up my skirt all that much.

HIGH ON FIRE didn't really impress me, but I haven't heard everything they've done. I had Blessed Black Wings and Surrounded By Thieves at one time and traded them both off.

See if you like the new song better

Link?

I have yet to hear HIGH ON FIRE (yeah, they're on the list, too), but I love SLEEP! I've got Holy Mountain. Got my sights set on Dopesmoker and Jerusalem, too...

So much doom, so little time... sigh...

http://www.myspace.com/highonfireslays

first song bro... Rumours of war vid on the page too

I love sleep, Dragonaut never gets old and it never will
I like High on Fire quite a bit but much better live than recorded.

HOF is good, but SLEEP is where it's at for me....HOF never really sunk in with me, but it has been a while since I gave them any attention...

The new High On Fire lp is SICK !
I was never a huge of that band either, but the new one is awesome!

Dood!!! So good to see you. I was literally just thinking..."Man where is Judah I haven't seen that bro on here forever!" lol

And yes it is indeed SICK!

I'll have to check out that new HOF if it's that good...

I think it is

Coolness...it's on my list.

Up.

I'm a complete High On Fire junkie. I think Matt Pike is one of the most interesting guitarists out there...a very "outside" player...sort of the Ornette Coleman of metal. I also think he's really Lemmy's bastard son...

It took me awhile to completely "get" what they were all about (a mark of a great band IMO) but once I got hooked, man...

They are heading back into the studio and plan on having a new album out by the end of the year.

I saw HoF opening for OPETH many months back, and they are definitely a killer live band! I have grabbed all of their stuff now and list myself as a fan. They reminded me of a cross between ANVIL and VENOM when I saw them!

TrogDawn wrote:

I saw HoF opening for OPETH many months back, and they are definitely a killer live band! I have grabbed all of their stuff now and list myself as a fan. They reminded me of a cross between ANVIL and VENOM when I saw them!

What do you think of Pike as a guitarist? It takes a lot to impress me in my old age, but he does.

He's pretty cool and unique without being overtly technical. His style was very loose and flowing

Scored on of those on vinyl 7 inch - sweet!

Ive loved sleep since the early 90's, as for High on fire its ok but more or less a Motorhead rip off, Al's band kills High on fire, Om is brilliance and is a huge influence on my own band,

Sleep=High on fire-Om-Noothgrush


Also Al has a new band with Scott kelly (Neurosis), Dale crover and Wino called Shrine builder, i cannot wait for this release

NapalmDave wrote:

High on fire its ok but more or less a Motorhead rip off

I would say that Motorhead is an influence, but I definitely don't see them as a rip off. Recently I tried to describe their sound to someone and said that if Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Venom & Celtic Frost had a child...it would be High On Fire.

Their sound continues to develop from album to album. It took me awhile to digest all their material, but I've come to really like all their records. I think they will do even better things in the future.

detuned wrote:

NapalmDave wrote:

High on fire its ok but more or less a Motorhead rip off

I would say that Motorhead is an influence, but I definitely don't see them as a rip off. Recently I tried to describe their sound to someone and said that if Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Venom & Celtic Frost had a child...it would be High On Fire.

Their sound continues to develop from album to album. It took me awhile to digest all their material, but I've come to really like all their records. I think they will do even better things in the future.

i guess i can see that, i just really like Om much more, what would rule is if sleep reformed, i will say return to nod is the most brutal song high on fire has done, its a sick song, i love it

Sleep is planning on doing a short reunion tour sometime this summer.

I thought they did a European tour already? MIGHT they be doing an American tour!!!!??? that would be so awesome

detuned wrote:

Sleep is planning on doing a short reunion tour sometime this summer.

That would be sweet! <-- it's SLEEP, geddit?

In May 2009, Sleep reformed to perform two exclusive and never to be repeated reunion sets in England as part of the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival.


I think this is what detuned is speaking of, it already happened, sadly it was not in america

downer! love both of these bands, as previously stated... if nothing else I am indebted to High On Fire because it was after seeing one of their shows STARCHILD was inspired and formed. and wow I LOVE da STARCHILD

Not familiar with Sleep, but I'm slowly becoming a High on Fire fan. Took awhile before I got accustomed to the vocals. Harsh, but certainly not unlistenable. I'll be keeping an eye out for more of their stuff.

ghosts of athanasius wrote:

downer! love both of these bands, as previously stated... if nothing else I am indebted to High On Fire because it was after seeing one of their shows STARCHILD was inspired and formed. and wow I LOVE da STARCHILD

SWEET, i love starchild

Pike is a great riff master but i find him to be a little un-predictable when playing live. I have seen some shows when he is pretty tight and other shows where he sound real sloppy, i am a big High On Fire fan but still rate Blessed Black Wings as their best album. The last one sounded a bit weak to me.

yeah i agree ed, the last album with the exception of return to nod which crushed

I just read a article predicting High On Fire will be entering the mainstream metal scene with the next album, not too sure what that means and i am not sure i want to know.

New album artwork.

I'm HUGE fan of Sleep and spin Holy Mountain almost weekly.

HOF..not so much of a fan. I do enjoy the music but not enough to buy their albums.

They do seem to get a lot of mixed reactions from people, i heard the new track that is being streamed via their website though and its much better than i thought it would be. If the new album is along the lines of that track, it should be great album. The new track sounds like it could have been on the Blessed Black Wings album.

Mazzie wrote:

I'm HUGE fan of Sleep and spin Holy Mountain almost weekly.

HOF..not so much of a fan. I do enjoy the music but not enough to buy their albums.

I spun this one again a while back,really like Dragonaut (that one always seems to conjure up mental images of the orig.HEAVY METAL movie for me) and a few others,mainly the ones where he is doing the nasal droning Ozzy-ish type vocal,his vocals vary somewhat and cause me not to like a few songs.

Never heard Vol II,what are the vocals like,not really heard much of HOF,have the track Drawn and Quartered on a comp,kind of sounds like Motorhead,or a faster Earthride........

It contains a (live) cover of Sabbath's 'Lord Of This World' & 2
early versions of tracks that appear on 'Sleep's Holy Mountain. Good EP but good luck finding a copy, better still is Volume 1 which is almost as good as Holy Mountain.

They have such a Sabbath sound,I just don't understand why he chose to sing differently on some songs,IMO,he really is at his best when he sounds sort of like Ozzy,the yelling style for me just doesn't work for the most part in doom,ruins the atmosphere.The music is flawless,total wall pasting heavy, but the alternating vocals keep it from being an absolute doom masterpiece.

I am expecting to receive a promo copy of the new album this week, really looking forward to this.

I was putting off the review till the official release but seeing as the album has been leaked, the cat is out of the bag so to hell with it. Snakes for the Divine is the sound of High On Fire at their most aggressive best and the glossy production actually pushes the sonic envelope even further. The production was done by courtesy of producer Greg Fidelman, the man responsible for the most recent Metallica and Slayer albums and while this was a worry for some people, it has proven to be a wise move. The sound on this disc is a savage barrage of monumental riffing and Matt Pike is at his roaring, bellowing best on vocals. The album-opening title track is a beast, it kicks off with a riff that sounds like a AC/DC riff on speed before the breakneck thrashy riffing and pummeling drums slammed you up against the wall. Its a relentless approach that never quits throughout the whole song, the vocals are savage and Pike sounds like his axe work has been taking up a level in terms of technical prowess. "Frost Hammer" which has been uploaded on various sites already is a metal pounding, neck snapper. Taking the usual influence from Celtic Frost, a influence the band has always had but High On Fire take it to a new plateau of sonic abrasiveness. "Bastard Samurai" has a un-assuming intro before a almighty sludge / doom riff is unleashed, featuring some dirty low-end sounds coming from the bass, this is some pure heavy. The vocals actually has Matt Pike inserting some raw melody into his guttural bellowing style and there is even some melodic lead breaks blending well with his un-relenting shredding. "Ghost Neck" takes it back to the more typical sludge meets thrash approach which High On Fire are renown for, this is surely the most aggressive album the band has done so far but its not just Pike, the whole band is playing with a energy and passion way beyond anything they have previously recorded. The riffing is also more complex this time around, there is noodling parts blending in perfectly with the pounding riffage and its all super tight. "The Path" is played in pure classic rock style and is short but blends nicely into "Fire, Flood And Plague" which is a mid-tempo bruising track. A stomping drum beat and double kicks keep up the momentum and there is more sizzling Pike guitar solo work but once again, its the riffs and this song has a killer one. "How Dark We Pray" is a 8 minute monolithic track, a slowly building intro section and melodic guitar work takes the listener to a place you don't hear usually on a High On Fire album. There is a certain moodiness to the song and the jaunty harmonics that are spread throughout this song and the entire CD may surprise some people. The track switches gears between wailing melodies and thrashy sections that build up to a epic thrashy crescendo. "Holy Flames Of The Fire Spitter" takes the album back to where it started, no holds barred sludge, thrashy goodness. The conclusion i reached with this album is this is their most accomplished piece of work thus far, there will be the usual people that will find the production too polished but really that is a kind of a pathetic viewpoint. This is the album that will for good or bad take the band to the next level of acceptance in the metal community which is fickle at the best of times. It is certainly not a sell out in any form, it is the sound of a band stretching themselves and pushing themselves to a new level of musicianship. This album will be huge in a month or two and is sure to be on top of everyone's play-lists. Their most varied release to date, the most well played and produced. The line-up of Matt Pike-guitars, vocals/, Des Kensel-drums and Jeff Matz on bass must be happy with this album, it continues to blow me away daily. 9/10

Snakes For The Divine just flat out FUCKING RULES.

Not everyone is impressed though, one review site i was on recently accused them of selling out. I don't understand some people.

Oh yeah, a track like "Bastard Samurai" just SCREAMS sell out. LOL You're right, some people are beyond understanding.

I've been thinking about how I'd rank the HOF catalog, this seems about right:

1. The Art of Self Defense
2. Blessed Black Wings
3. Snakes For The Divine
4. Surrounded By Thieves
5. Death Is This Communion

Now, Surrounded would rank higher on the list (probably #3) if the recording wasn't so near-unlistenable.

My list would be the same except i would put Blessed Black Wings in the number one spot. Still my favorite HOF album.