Iconic U.S. rock band High On Fire will release their new full-length “Cometh the Storm” on 19th April via MNRK Heavy. Today we get to listen to the album’s title track, which is also accompanied by a music video.
“‘Cometh the Storm’ was built from a riff I started playing on bass at practice,” explains bassist/guitarist Jeff Matz. “I was noodling around with this melancholic harmonic minor line, just hammering the notes with my left hand, when Matt yelled out “Are we recording this!?” The chorus riff was something Coady and I came up with when we were jamming in LA. Matt then came in and worked up some rough lyrics and came up with the vocal line. For the chorus, I used this fretless bass I’d acquired. The weight of the low frequencies this thing produced was insane – how it blended with the guitars and drums, it was like being hit with a sledgehammer. We knew right away that this was going to be an epically heavy track.”
“This was the first time I got to work with the guys on set and we had a blast,” offers Mucci. “High On Fire lyrics can always be interpreted in a number of ways, so I started by trying to define “The Storm”. A huge list of visual ideas got whittled down to the two essential characters at work, The Man and Gaia, representing duel ends of the spectrum — with a very destructive crossover. I always try to keep things light and encourage everyone to come up with ideas — like Coady’s burning cymbal idea! No better way to end your High on Fire shoot than with exploding cymbals!”
Pre-order/save “Cometh the Storm” HERE.
The GRAMMY Award-winning group, celebrating their 25th anniversary, recorded “Cometh the Storm” at GodCity Studio in Salem, Massachusetts with producer Kurt Ballou. The 11-song effort – the band’s ninth studio album – marks the release of the first new High on Fire music since 2018’s “Electric Messiah” and the first to feature drummer Coady Willis (Big Business, Murder City Devils), alongside bassist Jeff Matz, and guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike.
“I think this band’s always had a really good drive,” states Pike. “It’s a different entity. It’s its own thing. Which, I think, makes all of us very proud to be a part of it. It’s not an average band.”
“Being a fan of each other’s bands for a long time, it feels like all bets are off and anything goes which is a liberating feeling,” shares Willis. “That feeling of making something out of all of these imperfect parts and it becomes this magical, weird, new idea that none of us ever anticipated. Against all odds. That’s the joy of it.”
“It’s interesting, whenever there’s a lineup change in a band,” offers Ballou. “It can take a little while to rebuild. But it’s also an opportunity to reinvigorate the band and I think that’s what’s happened here.”
High on Fire will kick off U.S. headlining tour dates in support of the album on 4th May, then head to the UK / EU. Dates. Check out their itinerary HERE.
