OK I'm finally starting to get it. I know, I know...! I'm way late, yes. Known the name as long as they've been around, but my tastes generally never swayed this heavy (war metal). Lately for some reason their music is starting to register differently with me and I'm hooked. So having heard peripherally before, people generally love their whole catalogue except for Snakes For The Divine- but only because of its production values?

I have started at the beginning with The Art of Self Defense and figure I'll go sequentially. Knowing me I'll be hunting to trade live shows/ CD's with people next, so let me know if you collect live High On Fire...

I'm missing albums 3 4 and 5...but oddly I saw them live touring for each of those albums. I started with the first two and then just never got around to the other stuff until the new one, which rules. Glad to see them still chugging along.

Snakes For The Divine is bad ass. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I've been playing that on repeat and the new one for last couple of weeks. Title song, Ghost Neck and How Dark We Pray are top-tier.

Erik..get on Art of Self Defense immediately. Still their finest moments. I have about 25 live shows (up to about mid 2007)

Art of Self Defense is still awesome. Not digging the new one, guess I need to listen to it more!

It's not just the production values, they've subtly developped and streamlined their sound, but not in a sellout way. Just compare 10,000 years on Art of Self Defense with Ethereal on DITC.

They are great, I'm sticking with them. I suppose now they are too big to see front row unmolested and I wish the new records stoner grooved a little bit. But still.

Also, they will one day release that fucked up experimental record they got in em. Yes.

I only discovered them a few weeks ago, myself. Love it. Been a fan of Sleep for a long long time, so its odd to me it took me this long to get around to checking out HoF.

Brilliant band, still haven't listened to the latest album or Snakes for The Divine.

I hear a lot of HoF influence in your old band, ElectricDinger. This is the first you've checked them out, though.

Gotcha.

Are you talking to me, Racer X?

Every album is great.
I've got a couple live shows I'm happy to share. Anyone got a live show with Fireface?

Don't you hate metal because...why again ?

Snakes for the Divine is pretty good, but man this new one fucking KILLS!

i hadn't pulled out Snakes in quite a long time, it just seemed flat to me at the time, especially after something as mammoth as Death is this Communion, which is one of the alltime great metal albums imo. and after having my head completely sawed off by the new one, which is absolutely fucking great in every way, i decided to revisit Snakes last night. yeah, the production is waaaaay too clean, it sounds like three guys playing very nicely in different rooms, which is not a good fit for this band. HOF is almost elemental, there is just no grit on this recording. Pikes vocals are treated as if he's James Hetfield, super crisp and mixed way up front, which doesn't do him any favors. all that said, if the tunes were there, none of this would matter. but i think most of the tunes are pretty uninspired, by-the-numbers HOF. except How Dark We Pray, which is undoubtedly one of their finest songs (and the previous comments on the production oddly doesn't apply to this tune... everything is swirling around together just perfectly here) and Holy Flames of the Firespitter completely kicked my ass again. Bastard Samurai is cool too, but maybe not for almost 7 minutes. other than that, nothing grabbed me.

i couldn't be happier with the new one. there's an intensity behind the songwriting that was lacking on Snakes, and the production is as good as everyone has been raving. i dont' know how they did it, but jeff matz bass tone sounds like nothing i've ever heard before. it sounds like a fucking chainsaw rumbling or something. it's got some cool teeth to it. everyone is obviously at the top of their game once again.

i'm not quite sure why most people don't see Communion as their hands down best. yeah, the ARt of Self Defense is a classic, but this one just goes to a completely different level, something that hasn't been reached since Ride the Lightning. it's so ridiculously epic, and the final trilogy of Cyclopian Scape/Ethereal/Return to Nod is absolute perfection. not sure what else people want or need with their music.

I love the rawness of Anderson's production; I think it perfectly compliments the more Sleep-esque riffs and Dez's tribal drumming. I'm also especially fond of SBT because I had neither seen nor heard anything like that when I first caught that tour in 2002. After seeing that incarnation of the band tear through this weird amalgam of Venom/Celtic Frost/early Slayer/Motorhead/Voivod by way of D&D metaphors, I knew that life could be much more than leading a mediocre 9-5 existence. It changed how I saw everything, so SBT will always be my favorite.

Having said that, I would like to see the guys explore the sound of Ethereal more. That's my favorite track off DITC...

^ This...the bass tone's almost AmRep-ish, and by that I mean it's akin to Unsane at their heaviest...but heavier than that...it's front and center and lodged in your chest cavity...as for HoF beginners, I'd advise listening to their entire discography from beginning to end before picking favs...I've directed a few kindred spirits down this path, and most end up gravitating to AoSD and SBT...that said, Kojak makes a helluva argument for DiTC...easily, HoF's most overlooked gem.

Man, why is it, that I band I profess to like, and I know so little about their albums other than the first one? I mean, I own them all, but you get beyond a discussion of the first one or, perhaps, Surrounded by Thieves, and I'm just lost. Blessed Black Wings, "um, who produced that"? Same deal with Death is This Communion -- "what songs are on that"? "Who played bass"? And so it goes.

Obviously, I need to listen to this other albums further, but I just get bogged down by them. Sorry, but as kick ass as HOF is, most of their stuff kind of bleeds together into one long, thrashy, growly song.

On the new one (I've listened to it once), I was kind of impressed with the tune "Warhorn" in that it's not a pedal to metal type of deal, but the highlighting of Pike's Lemmyesque grunting (the vocals being very much isolated and to the front of this track), bordered almost on a parody of sorts; keep those grunts submerged in a maelstrom of crashing drums, distorted guitars, and marauding bass, Matt. It works better that way.

I hear you on the bleed/togetherness. I typically only listen to one album of theirs at a time, too much and I might be end up decapitating someone.

You really should listen to the new a few more times. The guy who turned me on to HoF admitted that he really needs to "break into" each of their albums in order to enjoy it. That is to say, he has to spin the album a few times before he actually likes it.

I really enjoy warhorn, totally has this apocalyptic feel to it and Pike's initial riff definitely has a tone reminiscent of a horn...HORN OF BAPHOMET! Madness of an Architect has a similar feel for me, midpace wrecking ball of a song.

Right on everyone, I appreciate all the chipping-in. Again, this is much heavier than my tastes have gone historically. The closest in my wall of music that High On Fire comes to is Solace. But lately the weight of some tremendous shit on my shoulders has tapped something else in my brain, and High On Fire is answering a call. I'm going to take my time with each record. The Art of Self Defense I'm really digging on and see why it's considered such a classic. This war metal really takes no prisoners. What I feel like mirroring...

KILL MAIM DESTROY