What's going on with High on Fire?

daammmmmnnnnnn those vocals are tough!

The whole album is out in the wild. I have mixed feelings; the songs are good, the band is burning, but while Pike's vocals are as fierce and powerful as he's ever been, the mix puts them so far forward that I really dislike it. It's like the "Mahna Mahna" guy on the Muppet Show, popping up in the front of the shot and overpowering the background. That works for comedic effect but I don't think they want me to laugh. Overall it's a shame, because when the music stands alone it might be my favorite work by the band.

I'm sure I'll warm to it if I see them live, but this mix did not leave a good first impression.

I don't like the mix, the vocals are way too high in it. The lead guitar is really far down in some songs too that its barely audible. Horrid production, I hope some unmastered versions leak at some point as the songs are awesome as ever.

I totally disagree. I think this is their strongest album since Blessed Black Wings.

Strongest set of songs perhaps, but production is dire

See, I think the clean production helps them a lot - it really feels like three dudes cranking it out in the room, and the bass in particular is very present. I like this disc a lot - I think they've been biker-sludge-metal for long enough; it's time to get epic. This is their power move.

If it's their power mood they shouldn't mute the guitar - he's still a better player than vocalist. Tried another run through and just really, really detest the mix.

Kalas gave me the impression Pike is at least as interested in vocalizing as he is in sitting all day playing that sick, repulsive electric twanger.

Man this album is fucking classic. Bastard Samurai!!!!!

Strongest set of songs perhaps, but production is dire

― Pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, February 18, 2010 12:35 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

I'm not getting this. I think it sounds really good. Im not a pro on production or anything, but it sounds fine to me.

Sounds great to me too. Don't mind having the vocals higher in the mix.

Can't wait to see/hear the new songs on tour. They played three at SXSW - the title track, "How Dark We Pray" and "Bastard Samurai" - and they all kicked ass.

Yep, the SXSW mini-set at Waterloo was fantastic (sound was a bit "off," though).

Man, this is the greatest band. I love how the drums just pummel in every song. Should we do a High on Fire album poll?

High on Fire should cover the Kings of Leon tune "Sex on Fire" and call it "High Sex on Fire."

I've not heard that song. I would guess it would turn out awesome.

you cant polish a turd

but can you make it heavier

love the new album, don't get the complaints about the production. not the best sound they're ever had, the i kinda like the cleaner mix. kinda bummed that the bonus track(s) weren't included on the vinyl, but c'est la guerre.

they played a very small club here last week. capacity no more than 250. should have gone but it was a tuesday and i was broke as fuck. would much rather see them that way than on metallica's stage.

lol i now find this album completely unlistenable.

still angry about how much (i thought) they sucked live when i saw them here

:'(

where is the love

i love the album its just tainted by my feelings toward matt pike mugging for me doing the foot on monitor pose for an hour or so

the production sounded passable in my car; on headphones it's awful.

also re: live, i feel like pike did the same thing when i saw them but t was too loud and i was too wasted to care.

matt pike mugging for me doing the foot on monitor pose for an hour or so

Haha I like how the wording of this makes it sound like he gave you a private dance or something

man HoF is great live, wtf, guitarists w/foot on monitor is somehow a bad thing at a metal show?

"don't get the complaints about the production"

Either do I. Nobody has adequately explained to me why my ears seem to be lying to me. Sounds great to me.

RISE UP
RISE UP TONNNNNNNNNNNNNIIIGGHHTT

i was talking to a record-selling metal guy today, and he was wondering why he's stuck with a giant pile of snakes for the divine vinyl. is it a bad record? no... so is it something to do with the label or the fanbase or the reviews or the cover art or what? i dunno (though the cover art is, yeah, kinda horrid). maybe dude just overbought, and maybe copies are available elsewhere cheaper or something.

still, i can't shake the feeling that snakes didn't and, several months in, still doesn't get the respect it deserves. listening now, trading tracks with surrounded by thieves snd blessed black wings, and it stacks up just fine. it may not be the best thing they've ever done, but there's no obvious drop in overall quality. i like hearing pike's bellowing loud and clear on top of the guitars, and LOVE hearing the music recorded so clean, sharp and strong. whole thing sounds epic, unstoppable, honed to killing keen, like a metal record should. spacious production especially suits des kensel's drumming - nice to actually hear every hit whirling by through the storm.

i guess i'd agree that it lacks a certain heft and psychedelic intensity relative to, say, blessed black wings. guitar tone is nowhere near so lovingly buffed, and the vibe has more in common with NWOBHM/thrash's speed rictus than with doom's stoner groove. motorhead comparisons have never been more apt. this isn't a generally a problem, but doesn't work quite so well during the more restrained and spacey passages (e.g., frost hammer's midsection). in the past, at their best, HOF conjured this overwhelming sonic density through which an incredibly vicious attack seemed impossibly to coalesce, a fog of blows. here, things are more compartmentalized and identifiable, and yeah, i guess that makes it a bit less awe-inspiring overall. you hear this record rather than inhabit it, a frightened animal in the shadow of something incomprehensibly massive and malevolent. i'm okay with the shift in focus though, though, cuz immediacy and clarity provide their own rewards. pike's solos, for one, have never sounded better, and snakes' relative thinness gives its brutality a desperate edge. it's not out to crush you so much as cut you to ribbons.

plus check this out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glzBnELcrks

that is a good post.

i think i actually peed myself the first time i heard frost hammer

rockism 101

peeing yourself?

i think i just did

luckily i have lackeys to attend to the waste

It's a great record, which means they've done nothing but great records, and that makes it hard to figure out what to say about them. The best I can come up with is

- wow, for someone who's never done much string tapping, Pike kicks it off with one of the best string tapping riffs ever
- first album since Surround by Thieves where the second half is stronger
- five great albums means their one of the best bands ever

i never wanted to go back to this record

I haven't gone back to it, but I am not a person who tends to blame that on the record. Life is busier & less busy & the sheer volume of music I encounter means that me going back to a record & really getting into is gonna be 1/2 a function of how good the record is and 1/2 a function of sheer chance.

i agree with all of that--the recording of this one just left me so cold

Still dont understand what is wrong with the recording of this, it sounds great to me. Bendy's post is dead on.

the vibe has more in common with NWOBHM/thrash's speed rictus than with doom's stoner groove

This is the main thing I've picked up on in my three or so listens to the album. I wish it has more groove and less top-end thrash sound to the recording. The songs are as great as always, but the production's not quite as good.

I wish it had*

think i mightve made it through all the way once, but ive mostly listened to the first couple tracks

production doesnt read death magnetic levels of sick mouthy-baiting awfulness, but its still pretty bad d00dz

could probably build a really sturdy wall out of its waveform

markers with respect you have no idea what you're talking about w/r/t this production, and will need to actually describe technically what you're talking about to prove otherwise - for example, as absolutely everyone knows, the issue with Death Magnetic isn't production, it's mastering

sorry that's way snottier than I meant it to be, am having a shitty day, my bad - I just really don't think "production" is what people mean when they're talking about that wall-of-waveform thing - that's a decision you make at the mastering session

"markers with respect you have no idea what you're talking about w/r/t this production"

I definitely admit that I have no idea what I am talking about (I cant play music, know nothing about recording, some would say i have terrible taste when listening to it, etc.). But I see no problem with the recording/mastering/whatever with Snakes.

i think i explained my problems with it in detail in another thread which maybe i'll go look for.

vocal mix isn't the problem with this (i just got to it today btw)--it's that there's no top end unless a guitar lead is happening and the drums have been COMPLETELY NEUTERED. like the opening to the 7th track should be majestic and awesome but really kinda isn't cause the snare and cymbals are so fuckin weak.

too bad, there's a lot to like: i actually really dig pike playing up the vocal performance, he seems to be having a lot of fun with it. and there's more bass on here than any other hof record. songwriting seems really sharp on once pass; more so than death is this communion which meandered a lot. but i think this is always going to sound a little caged to me.

― call all destroyer, Friday, February 26, 2010 6:18 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark

I don't know, I really kinda loved Death Is This Communion - I stan hardest for Blessed Black Wings & Surrounded Buy Thieves, they're like two different vintages of the same distilled spirit, so cool. But I really warmed up to Death Is This Communion after seeing it live. It's like the most emotional HoF record, to me.