Track Listing

1. Fury Whip
2. Waste Of Tiamat
3. Death Is This Communion
4. Khanrad's Wall
5. Turk
6. Headhunter
7. Rumors Of War
8. DII
9. Cyclopian Scape
10. Ethereal
11. Return To NOD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #112449 in Music
• Released on: 2007-09-18
• Number of discs: 1

Album Description
The almighty HIGH ON FIRE reemerge from the shadows to conquer the masses with their signature brand of brazen metal. Produced and recorded by Jack Endino (NIRVANA, SOUNDGARDEN), Death Is This Communion is High On Fire's ultimate sonic masterpiece. Matt Pike's unmistakable guitar playing and throaty war cry lead the charge, while Des Kensel's massive drumming takes on a new life and pushes the beast onward more urgently than ever. From the rampaging Rumors of War and Fury Whip, through the hypnotic riffs of Ethereal and the album's title track, Death Is This Communion is HIGH ON FIRE's masterwork.

From the Artist
Recommended If You Like: SLAYER, DOWN, MOTORHEAD, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY, CLUTCH, BLACK SABBATH, MASTODON, ISIS

About the Artist
Produced and recorded by Jack Endino (NIRVANA, SOUNDGARDEN), Death Is This Communion is High On Fire's ultimate sonic masterpiece.

Customer Reviews

To Crush Your Enemies, And See Them Driven Before You
I think most people mis-understand HOF. If youre into complex time changes, overly-progressive song structures, intricate dueling guitar leads, and slick detailed production, this isnt the place to find any of it. Theres no time for any of that, theres a war on, and this is what it sounds like, the sound of battle, bones breaking and blood spilling. Pure, metallic brutality! and all from a 3 piece, no less.
Whiskey soaked war cries ride furious battle-drums; wild, woolly, barbaric guitar playing that cuts like a broad-sword; fevered METAL lyrics relay accounts of epic Holy-wars, seances to invoke ancient evils, human sacrifices to monstrous demons, and extinguished races from lost civilizations. dont misunderstand, this isnt D&D geek stuff, there are more than threads of truth running through the songs, but I dont pretend to speak for the band.
I wouldnt call this "Doom", or "Thrash" but I suppose its somewhere in-between. Lyrically, it definitely references the worlds-end plenty, but musically, its too fast to be Doom, it does resemble Speed/Thrash metal, but its too dirty, too detuned and savage to be called that. Wholly original, the band once described it, though i may be mis-quoting, as "Warrior Metal". But I hate comparisons and labels because they dont do justice, and High On Fire deserve much respect because their sound/style is completely original, and thats not something most bands can say these days.
In a metal world full of "Black Metal" miscreants, mascara wearing "Emo" goth-posers, copy-cat Death Metal bands, and trendy metal revivalists/recyclists, High On Fire sweep through the entire plain like vengeful, blood-thirsty destroyers to obliterate the imposters and blasphemers. Simply said, they sound like absolutely no one else, and 'EFFIN' ROCKK!!!
In HOF tradition, topping each previous release, i would say this is their most advanced work, the only gripe i have is that the guitars arent quite as loud and heavy. Gone is the happy medium they found on Blessed Black Wings, but dont listen to anyone who says theyve sold out, youre still not going to hear this on the radio, or see it on MTV. And the production is still raw and dirty. The difference I hear, is dynamics. There are some cool instrumentals that break up the savagery a little, and also the songwriting is stronger. "Rumors Of War" is probably their most hook-ie song so far, and at the same time, as raw and brutal as anything theyve ever done. "Death Is This Communion" is a slow, doomy tune about the summoning of some creature from the bottom of the sea/hell, ala H.P. Lovecraft. "Fury Whip" sports one of their best riffs ever, and the list goes on. The whole album, beginning to end is top notch.
If you dig High On Fire already, or if youre new to their music (and youre not one of those people who only likes a band because no one has heard of them yet) then youll love this.
You know you can trust me : )

Instant classic
High on Fire are one beastly amalgamation of a band. Sure, they are rooted in doom, sludge, and stoner metal, but shame on you if you think they stop there. They draw influence from numerous other musical styles, and throw in plenty of speed metal, thrash, groove metal, black metal, psychedelic metal, traditional metal, classic, prog, and hard rock, gothic metal, and even some punk elements into their massively expansive, all-encompassing sound. This band is what it would sound like if you put C.D.'s from Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Sleep (which featured frontman Matt Pike, by the way), Soilent Green, Celtic Frost, Led Zeppelin, Slayer, Pantera, Porcupine Tree, and Paradise Lost in a blender (all at the same time, mind you) and hit "puree." But even if no one genre can hold High on Fire, two things are for absolute certain: a) they are unquestionably, 100% pure, grade A metal; and b) they might have a lot of influences, and they might wear them all proudly on their sleeves, but when they are all mixed together, HoF definitely have their own sound (and sound like their own band).

Nothing is better proof of the above paragraph than this Oakland, Californian trio's fourth long-player, 2007's triumphant "Death Is This Communion." Mr. Pike has decided to follow up 2005's excellent "Blessed Black Wings" by experimenting with his band's sound and making it a bit more progressive. Granted, the changes he has made here are only slight, but they are just enough to give the music some great texture, interesting nuances, and different dimensions. As a result, the new album sounds novel and innovative, but simultaneously manages to be familiar and comfortable enough as not to lose longtime fans.

"DITC" is an entrancing, well-rounded, commandingly heavy, extremely powerful, instantly memorable, wonderfully creative, meticulous, unpredictable, highly infectious, all-around outstanding, and completely satisfying thrill ride which grabs the listener from the very start and never lets go. The highlights on hand here are many. Beginning on a familiar note, opener "Fury Whip" would have been a perfect fir on the aforementioned 2005 release, "Blessed Black Wings," meaning it sounds like a really angry cover of vintage, "Ace Of Spades"-era Motorhead. It sports deep, slamming grooves, clattering drums, hoarse, throat-cancer-esque vocals, heavily distorted guitars, and a humming bass line. "Waste of Tiamat" begins with high, almost flamenco-ish acoustic picking, which is soon flattened by humongous, crushing, booming power chords. The acoustics return periodically, but the song still effortlessly works up a massive amount of speed and density with the help of a brief but furious and propulsive drum solo, thunderous rhythms, and an awesome, complex, several parted, and positively wailing solo that lasts about fifty seconds.

Following this, however, the reigns are pulled back on for some strategically-placed mood-enhancement. The eight-and-a-half-minute-long title cut is a mid-tempo, and superbly psychedelic, chilling, and ominous piece, complete with droning guitar feedback, prominent, grumbling bass notes, a creeping, insidious pace, ambient wind whooshes, some few crunchy riffs, a ripping melodic solo, and great, darkly thought-provoking lyrics. Then comes "Khanrad's Wall," a weird but nice interlude with a tambour, twelve-string acoustic guitars, and gentle tom-tom drums.

Fear not, though -- to compensate for those two restrained tracks, the band soon storm back strong as ever and twice as fast as usual with "Turk," a full-on thrasher that is filled with blistering leads, made-for-headbanging riffs, stomping drums, a crazy, completely-off-the-rails solo, and catchy vocals that will make some listeners think it's Lemmy Kilmister himself behind the mic. At less than a minute and a half in length, the proceeding "Headhunter" could be considered an interlude, but if it is one, then it is certainly one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. After all, it is a virtuosic, reverberating, tribal-flavored, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink drum solo (this one is for the books!). Pure metal nirvana, indeed.

Next up, "Rumors of War" boasts deliciously catchy, abrasive, grinding guitar leads, another tasty solo, quick, booming drum patterns, and a chorus that is sure to get tattooed to your brain, and could have come straight off of Motorhead's "1916" LP. Following this, the next two tracks, "Dii" and "Cyclopian Scape," see High on Fire's doom metal influences shifting to the forefront. The former tune is bolstered by one repetitive, heavy, churning, crunching riff throughout the song, thus creating a catchy trance-like mood. And the great melodic soloing during the latter half of the song is a wonderful touch, and kind of like the icing on the cake. The latter tune is highlighted by some pretty, Led Zeppelin-inspired strings, memorable, sing-songy choruses, and gobs of great, dense, dark, pounding, and almost crushingly heavy pure doom riffing.

Nearing the end, "Ethereal" is a blazing and steadfast speedster with deft, battering drumming, a distorted bass bottom, and a mazey, winding, Megadethian solo. Finally, the set closes in a similar way to how it began; "Return to Nod" is a heavy, rollicking, no frills, straight-ahead hard rocker that evokes a herd of stampeding elephants.

I just can't sing "Death Is This Communion"'s praise enough! Is it the sound of High On Fire firing on all cylinders? Check. Is it, hands down, one of the best sludge/doom/stoner/speed/whatever metal albums of the new millennium? Yeppers. Is it also easily one of the finest and most contagious and addictive releases of 2007? Indubitably. And not only is it all those things, but is it also just a brilliant, epic, mindblowing, seemingly flawless, and soon-to-be-legendary masterpiece of modern metal? You betcher bottom dollar! Absolutely bloody essential.

Stoner Metal Kings
The title to my review is no understatement. High on Fire have, over the course of three LP's earned that title through speedy Stoner rock imbued with fantasy overtones. And their presentation is so awesome and bone crushing, and so much more than Stoner Rock that one cannot deny their presence in the metal scene.

"Death is this Communion" is the latest LP released by the amazing High on Fire, and let me just say that the band hasn't lost one ounce of steam or power since "Blessed Black Wings". The guitar riffs are still blistering, speedy and relentless, but this time around their sound is a little clearer, at least much more than it has been on their previous releases. Bass lines are still pretty inaudible (which for Stoner Rock is a little weird since a Stoner staple is to have crushing, audible bass guitar). The drums are about the same as previous releases, nothing spectacular or amazing going on; still pretty impressive, yet nothing short of a fancy way to keep time.

In fact, "Death is this Communion" brings little new to the table, and is actually a pretty standard High on Fire release: this is in no way a bad thing. Since High on Fire are an awesome force to begin with, they really don't need to venture out into the unknown (though it would be nice). One new addition to the HoF sound is the introduction of traditional Middle-Eastern instruments for certain passages. They even wrote a whole (yet too short) song with these instruments called "Khanrad's Wall".

What makes High on Fire so great? Well, you could say that each band member is pretty good at what they do (can't really hear the bass, so I can't comment on that). The guitars shred, and there is some pretty good soloing. The vocals are not quite screamed yet not quite sung, and they lyrics follow the typical HoF staple of fantasy, sorcery and ancient battles. These aspects alone make High on Fire a band worthy of your dollar; that is if you are into Fantasy Stoner Rock.

My only gripe with "Death is this Communion" is that it stays within the lines; HoF hide behind their comfortable staple sound. I would like to hear them venture out, maybe mash some other genres together or try something different. This is what I perceive to be the only downfall to an otherwise satisfactory album. While their blend of Stoner Rock and speed metal is very enjoyable, it has a tendency to get old fast.

Every track is notably good, but the stand-out is "Khadrad's Wall". A very short instrumental song with Middle-Eastern instruments: can't go wrong there. If the aforementioned song is any indication of things to come, then I am very excited for High on Fire's future. Until then, I can satisfy myself with "Death is this Communion", until I get bored of it, that is.

Hardcore HoF fans will no doubt eat this record up, but casual listeners may find little to enjoy here. Luckily for me I'm more than a casual fan.