High On Fire at Richard's on Richards Oct. 24th

Me and Matt Pike, who provides the lungs and guitar for High On Fire, have roots. Nothing that he would know about of course, but what does that matter? Sleep's Holy Mountain, an album that sounded roughly akin to a Black Sabbath 45 played at 33, worked in tandem with Morbid Angel's "Covenant" to form the soundtrack to my first year of university. It was heavy, downtuned, groove-laden sludge, perfectly complemented by lyrics that bassist/vocalist Al Cisneros claimed were "easy to understand when you're on lots of acid". As an added bonus, the photo of Al on the back of the disc looked freakishly like me and was useful in deceiving the odd person into buying me a beer. Sleep lasted long enough to put out one more epic piece of music entitled Jerusalem (or Dopesmoker, depending on the version) and Mr. Pike then carried on to form High On Fire, whose slightly more straightforward, but no less heavy, whirlwind of destruction has been churning away ever since. Their new album is called "Death Is This Communion" and metal has rarely sounded better.

Tired of mall metal? Then let Sealed With A Kiss provide you with a night of respite from the likes of Demon Burger and Syndrome of a Down by way of a charming evening with High On Fire at Richard's On Richards next Wednesday (October 24th). Supporting acts are Japanese post-rock icons Mono, Brooklyn's riff-heavy Panthers, and the punk/metal onslaught of Coliseum.

Graphic courtesy of High On Fire.