High On Fire – Snakes For The Divine

I’m not sure “polished” is a word I’d ever logically use in association with High On Fire, but in the case of most recent offering Snakes For The Divine, perhaps “precise” would be a fair description of the evolution in sound. Although still retaining their coarse signature, the musical delivery is less sprawling. Even so, that’s not to suggest that this approach has been a bad thing in the past, but the crescendo of choruses (standout track Frost Hammer as a prime example) are notable in the midst of verses following a slightly more rigid structure than you’d expect from a High On Fire record.

With a slightly different approach also comes a more galloping, “epic” sound (even if that word is criminally over-used in music), bringing to mind some aspects of NWOBHM, but with enough chaotic esotericism to keep the listener in mind of whose record they’re experiencing. The gargantuan piledrive of songs like Ghost Neck and How Dark We Pray drag you across the floor at a run and then sacrifice you to angry gods, showcasing enjoyable variation in pace and tone throughout the record as a whole.

And you know what, I think it should be universally written that guitar breaks in heavy metal songs are only acceptable if they don’t “widdle”, if there’s one way to strip a song of balls it’s to break down in the middle and start widdling away, to the detriment of the main riff. Thankfully any lead breaks on this album are undertaken with the fuzz left on. And Matt Pike still hasn’t had any cough sweets.

7/10

S.D.

by enos