High On Fire - NQ Live, Manchester - 3rd February (Live Review)
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Thursday, 07 February 2013 |
Written by Ben Bland
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It’s been too long since High on Fire last hit these shores for a full on UK tour and, judging from the ever swelling crowd inside NQ Live tonight I cannot be the only one holding that opinion. Of course the Sleep reunion tour rolled through the country last year, but since then Matt Pike (the frontman of both acts, for those uninitiated in stoner rock lore) has had a spell in rehab and, as a result, High on Fire’s superb 2012 album 'De Vermis Mysteriis' has received little in the way of promotion on the road.
 Thankfully though High on Fire are back and for this lengthy European tour they have brought along for the ride two highly rated French (obviously) metal acts in the shape of Lizzard and Jumping Jack. The former, ridiculous name aside, clearly worship heavily at the altar of Tool but also seem to have a love of early nineties grunge of the Alice in Chains and Soundgarden variety. Riff-wise you get plenty of that post-Meshuggah djent sound that apparently all ‘prog metal’ bands have to employ at some point nowadays, but the trio are far from inoffensive and get a few heads banging early on in proceedings.
The latter, equally ridiculous name aside, are more of a traditional stoner rock affair. The opening riff is of true Sabbathian proportions and there are more grooves here than Pantera mustered at their peak. The band (another trio) are enormous fun for twenty minutes or so, but with a sound that wears a bit thin by the end of the set.
By the time High on Fire arrive on stage, the atmosphere has reached something vaguely approaching fever pitch, and opener 'Serums of Liao' feels like a suitably bulldozing manner in which to start the set. By the time 'Frost Hammer' and '10,000 Years' are wheeled out the riffs are pummelling Manchester’s worst designed venue into the oblivion to which it surely belongs.
Pike still has the guitar power to rival any other contenders but it’s the rhythm section of Des Kensel on drums and Jeff Matz on bass that really gives the band the ferociousness that defines their sound. Sonic weight collides with thundering tempos to create something distinct from the traditional stoner sound yet also eerily reminiscent of its most brutally savage moments.
Tracks new and old are devoured by the hungry audience and, by the time that the hour and a quarter set is done, everyone’s belated High on Fire itch is well and truly scratched, the band having proved why they are one of the essential bands in metal today.
'De Vermis Mysteriis' is out now via Century Media. A reissue of 'The Art of Self-Defence', the band’s classic debut album, is also out now via Southern Lord.
Photo Credit: David Greenwood
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