High On Fire with Drunk Horse & Swarming Hordes
Rating: 5 Skulls
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High On Fire with Drunk Horse & Swarming Hordes
Rating: 5 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Ylana (7/13/03, Graceland, Seattle, WA):
High On Fire
Photos by YlanaBack in Seattle again, High on Fire has taken the stage and stormed through a set of the loudest, most enjoyably unintelligible music I've heard in a long while. MTV's Iann Robinson was right to give these guys props (along with Mastodon, yeah!) for being left off the nominee list for the 2002 Grammy awards in the best metal performance category.
Drunk HorseThis time around, enter Graceland at a later time slot than the usual 7pm all ages show, and with that, an entirely older crowd. This definitely had its perks as there was much less stage diving, due in no small part to the lack of rubber limbed teenagers usually packing these shows. There was however, an unusual amount of heckling and beer throwing; the latter surprised me, as I wasn't sure if it was meant to be offensive or a tribute to metal, beer, and complete and utter drunken mayhem. I'm not so sure the singer of Drunk Horse, who was sloshed with the PBR, was feeling all warm and tingly inside.
Which brings me to the review. First up was a nifty little instrumental trio called Swarming Hordes. I thought they were pretty good, but wasn't exactly sure why they had been put on a bill with two bands that were loud and rocking, a la Motorhead and a very metal-like Lynyrd Skynyrd. These guys seemed like roadies warming up the instruments, and were more introverted and technical, concentrating on their playing, but lacking in any showmanship. I kept expecting them to break into "Flight of the Bumblebee", and I think a few of us were wondering if there may actually have been a singer, if he just couldn't make it. Don't get me wrong, they were very good, and it definitely got the crowd going. At one point, some guy in the audience shouted, "Thanks for not being Emo!" That was followed by a man in electric blue spandex tights and what looked like a superman tattoo getting on stage, to which I think the whole place thought, 'Ah, the singer'. But, to our disappointment, he just postured there for a minute with his beer, revved the crowd up a bit, and then hopped off. It started to seem as if we were at a taping of the Jerry Springer show and this was the warm up act.
High On FireNext up was Drunk Horse. These guys were good. I kept thinking "Dazed and Confused". Both the movie AND the Zeppelin song seem to sum this band up nicely to me. They are heavy, heavy, stoner/doom metal, but with a little Stevie Ray and a whole sot of Southern soul. Drunk Horse is music for the masses, or at least it should be, and I wouldn't be surprised if these guys make some headway in the hard rock category and really start turning some industry heads. They're an exciting presence to watch on stage, their bodies seem to follow the music, or vice versa, with the drummer pounding out solo beats that could rattle a storm cellar door. The music was stirring the crowd up, getting howls of delight from the old school biker boys and nods of respect from younger metal fans. It was at this point that some drunken chick shoved her way up front and saluted the singer/guitarist with her beer, which unfortunately went right in his face and onto his guitar. I think it stunned him, but in between songs, he just wiped himself, and the guitar, down with his T-shirt and kept going. Drunk Horse kicks ass.
Finally, after a long set break, High On Fire took the stage. I have to say, you know it's loud when you are being pounded repeatedly by an invisible force, suspiciously in time with a low frequency sound coming from the speakers. Not to mention the billion dust particles flying up my nose in time with the bass and drums. This was LOUD, and unbelievably good, even if I couldn't understand anything Matt Pike was singing. Who cares? The sheer force of the music is something to be reckoned with. Combine that with the almost eerie likeness Matt has on stage to Lemmy, and you start to believe that there really is a son of God. Now this has always been a point of contention between my fellow MJ peeps and me, but as an individual woman (and metal sex goddess), I think Lemmy is hot. Well, on stage. Puke if you must, but I'm sticking to my guns on this one, the man has presence. It's that same magnetism and self-possessed air that makes Matt Pike a metal god to fans of High On Fire. One guy pushed his way right up to the stage, held his war fisted hands in the air, and seemed to beckon Pike to him, wanting more and more, like the conductor of some crazy symphony - Pike in turn responded and seemed to be the snake charmer, with a captive and writhing audience. Playing favorites from albums Surrounded by Thieves and The Art of Self Defense, the three members of this power trio were totally in sync and seemed to make melodic noise and heart pounding rhythm out of what are most probably the depths of our deepest and most primal origins. Watching High on Fire live, with their influences deeply rooted in bands like Sabbath and Motorhead, takes the audience into a new level of powerfully driven low frequency riffs and pounding rhythms. That, combined with unintelligible lyrics, which is fine by me, makes for an evening of total ear-shattering, head-pounding fun.
Drunk HorseAs I was walking to my car, some guys were ahead of me, remarking on the show:
"I couldn't understand what he was singing."
"Yeah, me neither, I have the album, can't understand it on that either."
"Who cares?"Amen brother, Amen.
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