The greatest band on Earth right now is HIGH ON FIRE. They are the be-all, end-all of metal in early 2002, and their singer/guitarist Matt Pike is infamous in his quest to "BATTER SLAY PUNISH"; it's his raison d'etre, and he has a Rumsfeldian "take no shit" attitude about it (without the smirk, of course). There is no encore at their concerts, no "welcome to the show" platitude, no nonsense about costumes or masks or image counselors. They are Bay Area greasers, plain and simple, and they have come for your eardrums and your sisters' tympanic membranes, too. Rumor has it Pike, former shepherd of the legendary Sleep, spent the latter part of the Nineties smoking weed and practicing new riffs and licks on his trademark sunburst Les Paul in his Oakland garage. Not a stretch to believe once you've seen Pike and Co., the Green stacks dominating the stage, adorned by nothing else save battery George Rice (bass) and Des Kensel (drums, and quite a kit it is--24" bass drum?), who idle anxiously as Pike begins to lash out the deceptively simple chords of any Fire hymn, one step closer to commencing a most brutal bombast that knows no equal. Pike is nothing short of the Messiah (or does he just looked like Stoner Jesus?) for the new metal era. High praise? Well, praise be.

http://highonfire.tribe.net