High on Fire Begin Writing New Album
Not much to say about it yet but since it’s High on Fire writing a new record, the news is good. As the PR wire informs, fresh off the Scion Rock Fest, the Oakland crushers have also snuck in a few dates in Chicago ahead of trekking to Australia and thereafter to Europe before returning to the States to hit the Hopscotch festival in North Carolina this September. No word on whether they’ll continue writing on the road or have any new material in tow for the shows, but screw it, that High on Fire are working on a follow-up to 2012’s De Vermis Mysteriis (review here) and eying an early 2015 release is a pretty solid takeaway to have. Figure one or two songs might be ready to go at this point, as High on Fire have made a habit of road-testing new material in the past, but don’t quote me on that.
From the PR wire:
HIGH ON FIRE Begins Work on New Album
Hard Rock’s Heaviest Band Prepping “Herculean” LP
Chicago Residency, Australian, European Headlining Tours Announced
California rock giants HIGH ON FIRE have begin work on their new, as-yet-untitled studio album. The globally-celebrated group — guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike, drummer Des Kensel and bassist Jeff Matz — have convened for strategic writing sessions in both New Orleans, LA and Oakland, CA, with early reports indicating the band’s new material to be both “epic” and “sonically huge”. A winter 2015 tentative release date via eOne is expected for the new LP, the follow-up to 2012’s De Vermis Mysteriis, which has been hailed as “not for the faint of heart ” by The New Yorker and “a fantastically constructed bloodbath” by Entertainment Weekly.
“Des, Jeff and I are really getting creative and writing a hell of a new record,” states Pike. “It’s a crazy project and I can’t really explain what it’s all about just yet, but we’ve been writing a lot of crazy intense material that will up the ante, and bring things to another level.”
“Everyone is asking what the new High on Fire music sounds like,” adds Kensel. “Chew on some mescaline and listen to side B of Sabbath’s “Master of Reality” backwards at 78 RPM and it might give you an idea.”
In addition to constructing the new album, HIGH ON FIRE has announced a handful of upcoming U.S. live dates as well as an Australian headlining tour and a European headlining trek. The Land of Oz trek will launch on July 16 in Brisbane and the Euro jaunt will kick off on July 23 in Germany and run through August 9 in London, England.
Previous to the out-of-country dates, HIGH ON FIRE will undertake a Chicago area residency that will begin on May 29 in Rock Island, IL. The band will then gig as one of the headliners of the Do-Division Street Fest on May 30 (w/ J Mascis, Bass Drum of Death, etc.) before back-to-back headlining shows at Chi-Town’s Empty Bottle on May 31 and June 1.
HIGH ON FIRE tour dates:
May 29 Rock Island, IL Rock Island Brewing Co.
May 30 Chicago, IL Do-Division Street Fest
May 31 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
June 1 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
July 16 Brisbane, Australia Crowbar
July 17 Brisbane, Australia Crowbar
July 18 Perth, Australia The Rosemont Hotel
July 19 Melbourne, Australia The Hi Fi
July 20 Sydney, Australia The Factory Theatre
July 23 Hamburg, Germany Logo
July 24 Tilburg, NL 013
July 25 Köln, Germany Underground
July 26 Barcelos, Portugal Milhões de Festa
July 28 Stockholm, Sweden Slakthuset
July 29 Oslo, Norway Bla
July 30 Gothenburg, Sweden Truckstop Alaska
July 31 Viveiro, Spain Resurrection Festival
August 1 Paris, France Glazart
August 2 Waarschoot, Belgium Roadkill
August 3 Copenhagen, Denmark KB 18
August 4 Malmo, Sweden Babel
August 5 Berlin, Germany Magnet
August 6 Prague, Czech Republic Brutal Assault Festival
August 7 Stuttgart, Germany Kellerclub
August 8 Oulu, Finland Jalometalli Festival
August 9 London, United Kingdom Underworld
September 6 Raleigh, NC Hopscotch Festival (w/ Mastodon, Sun Kil Moon, St. Vincent, Valient Thorr, etc.)
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