Born out of legendary doom band Sleep, High On Fire are a highly energetic rock n’ roll band with metal tendencies. While their albums are chock full of memorable riffs, it’s their live show that stands out and their first show on the 2016 Australian tour showcased what the band do best.
Opening the night were Perth’s newest doom band Skullcave, their name alone pretty much was intriguing enough to check out and sure enough they did a great job warming the crowd up right away. Mixing doom riffs with hints of spacey psych rock, the 3 piece band cracked a few good moments which all led to the epic final track in their set which dripped of Earth and Kylesa influences. Great start to the night for sure!
Punk rockers Leeches are pretty familiar on the Perth music circuit these days, garnering support slots everywhere it seems. Their loose sound and laid back vibe made for a cool experience but their set seemed uncannily short, possibly due to extremely short tracks which I guess is not so alien in punk rock. But more from these guys would have been better as they laid out a fairly solid set of punk tunes which diversified tonights lineup.
Headliners High On Fire came out soon after and proceeded into a fury of upbeat riffs and beats that is very different to the band it originally came out of in Sleep. While doom aspects are still in the band’s sound, High On Fire are more rock n’ roll mid tempo style with occasional faster speeds. Frontman Matt Pike has a very Lemmy-esque demeanour on stage, biker attitude with a gruff voice and a guitar tone that’s as loud as it is distorted.
With that being said, it’s the slower more riffier tracks like “Death Is This Communion” and “The Dark Side Of The Compass” that stood out the most, headbanger worthy and full of riffs that grab you immediately. The faster stuff like new song “Luminiferous”, while heavy as fuck, didn’t have the same hooks and in the sheer volume that the band were playing at, sounded a little lost in the mix at times. But those negatives were a rarity though as the band pounded their way through a mixed setlist that wooed the crowd at virtually every point. As the band cranked closer to midnight by the time the final track “Snakes For The Divine” ended, all ears were left bleeding but with big smiles on the faces of the crowd who enjoyed every minute of High On Fire.
Catch High On Fire on the rest of the tour in Australia:
Adelaide – Fowler’s – Thursday, February 18
Melbourne – Max Watt’s – Friday, February 19
Sydney – Manning Bar – Saturday, February 20
Brisbane – Crowbar – Sunday, February 21
Auckland – Kings Arms – Tuesday, February 23
Tickets through Life Is Noise
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by Tammie Molotov – Molotov Enterprises And Photography
