High On Fire
Recommended
This event is in the past
Sun., Jan. 22, 8 p.m. 2017
Hawthorne Theatre
Hawthorne District (Portland)
$20 - $25
Unpopular opinion time: I’m kind of over Sleep. The band, not the rapper... or the time of rest in between daytimes. Don’t get me wrong, Sleep was—and is—a great band that put out some unimpeachable stoner/doom classics. And yes, they released a new single a few years ago, and yes, it was good. But live, the band has been bludgeoning its legion of fans with essentially the same material for years, and I’ve seen it. I don’t need to see it again. Sleep guitarist (and six-string god) Matt Pike’s other band High on Fire, however? Whole different ballgame. On their most recent album Luminiferous, Pike, drummer Des Kensel, and bassist Jeff Matz are devastating riff monsters, delivering a uniquely powerful brand of sludge-thrash that runs circles around just about every other likeminded band on the planet. But Luminiferous also finds the trio flexing its psychedelic muscle and adding more melody into the mix, particularly in Pike’s vocals. The results are glorious, and they prove that High on Fire is not just a great band—they’re a great band pushing themselves to be better. BEN SALMON