Cometh the Storm
| Cometh the Storm | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | April 19, 2024 | |||
| Studio | GodCity (Salem, Massachusetts) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 57:42 | |||
| Label | MNRK Heavy | |||
| Producer |
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| High on Fire chronology | ||||
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"Mostly, it's about reinventing ourselves: building our machine back up after a few years away. But it's also about [what's been happening in the world]. People are wandering around, talking about nuclear war as if it's casual – 'Oh, it's just nuclear war!' Environmentalism doesn't seem to be doing any good for the environment – or us. It feels like there has been a big storm building since before COVID and now shit's hitting the fan. We're just singing about the times!"
—Frontman Matt Pike on themes of Cometh the Storm[3]
Cometh the Storm is the ninth studio album by American heavy metal band High on Fire, released on April 19, 2024, through MNRK Heavy. It marks their first album with Coady Willis of Big Business on drums since the departure of co-founder Des Kensel in July 2019. It follows a five-year gap from Electric Messiah and mixes the band's previous sludge metal and stoner metal genres with Turkish folk music[4] and Middle Eastern music.[5] It has received positive reviews from critics.
Reception[edit]
Writing at Blabbermouth.net, Dom Lawson rated this album an 8.5 out of 10, stating that High on Fire "deliver the punishment that their admirers crave".[6] In Kerrang!, Nick Russell scored Cometh the Storm 4 out of 5, summing up, "when [High on Fire] stampede at you like this, when you can hear their blood pumping and smell their breath, there are few bands on Earth who can match them".[7] Max Morin of Metal Injection rated this release an 8 out of 10, stating that the music "avoids the pitfalls that many of High On Fire's imitators have stumbled into, mainly letting the music relax into a slow motion dirge" and it "keeps the momentum going with drum fills, crashing cymbals and an absolutely ripping guitar solo".[8] Another 4 out of 5 came from Mandy Scythe of MetalSucks who wrote that "there really isn't a dull moment on this album, as it almost acts as a retrospective of what the band has done so far and takes you through a lot of different crucial eras of their development".[1] Online retailer Qobuz named this Album of the Week and critic Eli Enis ended that the band "sound as heavy, gnarly, and gloriously sludgy as they ever have".[9] In The Shepherd Express, Jon M. Gilbertson called this release "a manifestation of [vocalist Matt Pike's] best dark side".[10] Editors at Stereogum chose this as Album of the Week, where critic Chris DeVille stated that "stoner metal is... rarely so dynamic" and summed up that "it's right in this band's sweet spot: grotesque enough for the most dedicated hesher, but bracingly immediate enough to sweep up the heavy metal dilettante in its current".[2]
Track listing[edit]
- "Lambsbread" – 5:45
- "Burning Down" – 6:13
- "Trismegistus" – 5:37
- "Cometh the Storm" – 6:12
- "Karanlık Yol" – 3:47
- "Sol's Golden Curse" – 4:52
- "The Beating" – 2:29
- "Tough Guy" – 3:44
- "Lightning Beard" – 3:34
- "Hunting Shadows" – 5:41
- "Darker Fleece" – 9:59
Personnel[edit]
High on Fire
- Jeff Matz – bass guitar, guitar, baglama, Mellotron, percussion, audio engineering, production
- Matt Pike – guitar, vocals, production
- Coady Willis – drums, percussion, vocals, engineering, production
Additional personnel
- Kurt Ballou – recording, mixing, production
- Rich Doucette – dilruba on "Karanlik Yol"
- Alan Douches – audio mastering
- Brandon Eggleston – engineering
- Zach Weeks – engineering
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b Scythe, Mandy (April 12, 2024). "Review: High on Fire Revive the Sludge on Cometh the Storm". Reviews. MetalSucks. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ a b DeVille, Chris (April 16, 2024). "High On Fire 'Cometh The Storm' Album Review". Album Of The Week. Stereogum. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ Law, Sam (February 22, 2024). "High On Fire: "It feels like a storm has been building……". Features. Kerrang!. ISSN 0262-6624. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ Full Metal Jackie (April 22, 2024). "High on Fire Guitarist Reveals New Album Turkish Folk Influences". Interviews. Loudwire. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
- ^ Hadusek, Jon (May 1, 2024). "High on Fire Talk Cometh the Storm, Extensive Riff Vault, and Band Reinvigoration". Features > Interviews. Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
- ^ Lawson, Dom (April 18, 2024). "Reviews – Cometh The Storm". Reviews. Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ Russell, Nick (April 19, 2024). "Album review: High On Fire – Cometh The Storm". Reviews. Kerrang!. ISSN 0262-6624. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ Morin, Max (April 19, 2024). "Album Review: HIGH ON FIRE Cometh The Storm". Reviews. Metal Injection. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
- ^ Enis, Eli (April 22, 2024). "Album of the Week: High on Fire". Qobuz Magazine. Qobuz. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
- ^ Gilbertson, Jon M. (April 26, 2024). "'Cometh the Storm' by High on Fire". Music/Album Reviews. The Shepherd Express. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
External links[edit]
- Cometh the Storm at Discogs (list of releases)
- Cometh the Storm at MusicBrainz (list of releases)
- Entry at Encyclopaedia Metallum
