Is the “metalhead’s paradise” a heaven or a hell, I don’t know, but this show at Irving Plaza had everything needed to please the fans of the heavy guitars genre on a Friday night.
First on the list were Venomous Maximus, which I missed but I was right on time for the second band. Lucifer – an occult rock/psychedellic doom band – just issued its debut album “Lucifer I”. They’re definitely a breath of fresh air for the female-fronted metal genre – inspired by bands like Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and Blue Oyster Cult and adorned by Johanna Sadonis’silky vocals they looked and sounded captivating on the stage. The combination of classic 70s proto-metal and heavy doom is just the starting point for this band and I’m expecting to see them really developing this genre.
After a short break Lucifer were followed by the thick progressive doom of Pallbearer.
Hailing from Little Rock, Arkansas they quickly made a staple with their debut LP “Sorrow and Extinction” which was called #1 Metal Album for 2012 by Rolling Stone and made it to the coveted “Best New Music” stamp of approval by Pitchfork.
What’s really great about taking pictures of doom bands is that every song is like 10 minutes or longer and you have 3 songs at the photo pit, which really make plenty of time! Actually their setlist featured only four songs, but each one of them sounded like a Beethoven symphony translated in the doom metal genre. Really, really solid!
PALLBEARER SETLIST:
1. Worlds Apart
2. Devoid of Redemption
3. The Ghost I Used to Be
4. Foreigner
And yes! It was time for the headliners – High On Fire.
If I have to describe them with one word – it will be BADASS. If I have to use three – STRAIGHTFORWARD BADASS METAL!
Yep – High On Fire take their metal seriously! The Oakland, California trio slammed us with heavy riffs and killer drums from the opening “The Black Plot”, which is also the first song of their new record “Luminiferous” to their encore, which featured “Fertile Green” and “Snakes Of The Divine”.
Matt Pike is reincarnation of the “no-fucks-given-whatsoever” metal spirit and totally ripped us with his powerful vocals. Much different from Pike’s previous band Sleep, known for its impossibly slothful tunes, High On Fire are destined to make scull-crushing experience both live and on records!
HIGH ON FIRE SETLIST:
1. The Black Plot
2. Rumors of War
3. Carcosa
4. Death Is This Communion
5. Luminiferous
6. The Falconist
7. Cometh Down Hessian
8. The Sunless Years
9 The Dark Side of the Compass
10. 10,000 Years
11. Slave the Hive
Encore:
12. Fertile Green
13. Snakes for the Divine
Really solid metal show! Another not-to-be-missed is Belphegor + Kataklysm – the two extreme metal staples will share the stage on November 9th at Gramercy Theater. But we know you can’t wait, so we’ll try to give you more metal until then.
And for final something from 7 years ago that still kicks motherfucking ass! \m/ \m/ \m/
