It has been an evident conscious decision by the band Zoroaster that each of their albums should sound different from the one before it. They are, in terms often heard, “trying something different” each time. Certainly 2009’s Voice of Saturn showed marked growth from 2007’s Dog Magic, and their third and latest full-length, Matador, follows the same ethic, pushing the Atlanta trio’s psychedelic doom in yet another surprisingly complex direction.

Matador is Zoroaster’s first album for E1 Music (High on Fire, In Flames, Hatebreed), the first album they aren’t releasing through their own Terminal Doom Records, but I don’t think that accounts for any of the sonic changes the band has undergone. One might expect that, having moved from an entirely independent method of operation to a label of reach as considerable as E1’s, Zoroaster would come across, either consciously or unconsciously, as more commercial, but that’s not – repeat, not – what’s happening on Matador. Rather, it seems guitarist/vocalist Will Fiore, bassist/vocalist Brent Anderson and drummer Dan Scanlan have gone even further out than ever before, incorporating a mutated brand of desert rock riffing into their arsenal while at the same time meshing it with increased use of highly-reverbed and delayed clean vocals that makes a song like opener “D.N.R.” sound spacious even more than what is commonly thought of in doom as heavy. The feel is that Zoroaster have moved beyond the confines of genre, and with the help of producer Sanford Parker, are working on their own progressive definition thereof.

There are also a lot more songs on Matador than in the past. With their third outing, Zoroaster gives us nine full-tracks, where Dog Magic had six and Voice of Saturn had five if you discount the intro and outro (which, in the case of the latter, also takes 14 minutes of runtime off the album and may not be an entirely fair move). Of course, the track lengths here are shorter, with cuts like the heavily rhythmic “Ancient Ones,” “Trident,” “Black Hole” and “Odyssey II” all under four minutes and only “Old World” and closer “Matador” over seven, but if bursts of rocking energy like “Trident,” with Fiore’s righteous and classically-styled soloing, are going to be the tradeoff, I’ll take it, as Zoroaster prove more than capable of handling the style. “Trident” is a surprisingly catchy highlight, tighter with more aggressive vocals, than “Odyssey” before it, but it really is the soloing that sets the song apart. It’s yet another move Zoroaster have made to distinguish Matador from its predecessors.

So naturally, on the next track, which is “Firewater,” they go in the complete opposite direction. The song is 4:14 of noise, feedback, soloing, effects and a Clutch-style bass and drum groove underneath, basically Scanlan and Anderson giving Fiore a little freak-out time. Gone is the structure, the memorable hook, the fleetness of finger (well, I guess that’s still there, but coming from another dimension). Take that, expectation.

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Because it’s the internet and exclusivity is a thing of the past, you can hear the studio version of High on Fire‘s “Frost Hammer” right here on The Obelisk. Credit where credit’s due, Stereogum got the official premiere, but I’ve gotten halfway decent at this internet thing the last 12 months, so I more or less grabbed the embedding code from them and put it here. Now I can make believe I’m relevant enough to debut new High on Fire songs too. It’ll be like a tea party, only with cups of sadness.

Here’s the track, followed by some PR wire info:

Today, High on Fire premieres the first new song from Snakes for the Divine, unleashing the powerhouse “Frost Hammer.”  The out-of-this-world track sees the Oakland band at the peak of its powers, delivering state-of-the-art heavy metal as only High on Fire can while legendary guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike roars about “icy skies, frozen minds and galactic eyes.”

When asked for comment on “Frost Hammer,” Pike called the song, “An icy death lullaby.”

Recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, Snakes for the Divine is High on Fire’s magnum opus, capturing every nuance of the legendary band’s ongoing musical progression and evolution into one of heavy music’s all time greats. Production by Fidelman — the man who produced Slayer’s World Painted Blood and is mixing the upcoming Metallica live album — boosts High on Fire’s strength and power while blackened lyrical tales of ancient wars, frozen planets and doomed societies emerge from Pike’s bellowing barks and throaty war cries.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the Arik Roper artwork for the new High on Fire record, Snakes for the Divine. As if you needed me to tell you it rules:

Fucking killer. I want to get a poster of it, travel back in time and put it up on my 14-year-old self’s bedroom wall and say, “Listen up you little bastard! You don’t know what the hell this is yet, but you spend the next decade and a half staring at it and then maybe you’ll be worthy enough to find out.”

Snakes for the Divine is out Feb. 23 on E1 Music. I wanna be friends with it.

Oh PR wire, just when I think I’m out, you pull me back in. Here’s the latest news on High on Fire‘s new album:

World-renowned power trio High on Fire has completed work on its long-awaited, fifth studio album and follow-up to 2007’s Death is this Communion. Titled Snakes for the Divine, the record will drop on February 23, 2010 via E1 Music.

Recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, Snakes for the Divine is High on Fire’s magnum opus, capturing every nuance of the legendary band’s ongoing musical progression and evolution into one of heavy music’s all time greats. Sharper, faster and darker than anything the group has ever recorded, Snakes for the Divine is an unrelenting tour de force, showcasing cult guitar hero Matt Pike’s utterly unique and inventive musicianship and the band’s epic, thundering sound. From the moment the leviathan-like title track explodes to kick off the album, it is immediately evident that High on Fire is determined to push modern heavy metal into new and uncharted realms.

The track listing for High on Fire’s Snakes for the Divine is as follows:

1.) Snakes for the Divine
2.) Frost Hammer
3.) Bastard Samurai
4.) Ghost Neck
5.) Fire, Flood and Plague
6.) How Dark We Pray
7.) Holy Flames of the Fire Spitter
8.) Mystery of Helm

Snakes for the Divine’s album artwork will be brought to life by longtime High on Fire cover artist Arik Moonhawk Roper.

I guess it’s a good thing, though I’d be lying if I said something in me didn’t really enjoy Zoroaster as a totally independent act doing it all through their own Terminal Doom label. Cool for them, though. I’m sure signing to E1 (formerly Koch) will do wonders for their distribution, and the more people who hear Zoroaster, the better. Here’s the news in PR wire form:

Critically acclaimed psych metal band Zoroaster has signed a worldwide recording deal with E1 Music. The celebrated avant-garde trio will enter the studio in early 2010 with producer Sanford Parker (The Gates of Slumber, Pelican) to record its label debut and follow up to 2009?s Voice of Saturn.? A summer 2010 release is expected.

?The first time I saw Zoroaster live, I was blown away and knew we had to add them to the growing E1 roster,? comments E1 Music VP of Metal Scott Givens.? ?They push the limits of the metal genre with their music and are unlike any other act out there now.? We are honored to be their partners.??? The signing of Zoroaster comes on the heels of E1 inking the like-minded High on Fire and sees the band join a first rate family of artists that includes such revered names as Satyricon, In Flames and Hatebreed.