Shootin’ the Shit: 2013 is going to be nuts.

2012 is just about over. The holidays are wrapping up, the new year draws nearer by the minute, and we can start getting excited about the coming year. I’ve got plenty to say about everything from games to music to movies, so let’s take this one at a time. First off, games!

Games in 2013

2012 had some awesome games, but 2013 is going to be a big year. We’re all anticipating announcements from both Sony and Microsoft regarding new consoles; Valve is hard at work on a mysterious “Steam box”; The Ouya promises to give independent creators a new open source platform; and Nintendo begins their first year of the Wii U’s life cycle. But none of that matters if the games aren’t good. We’ve got a year left with our 360s and PS3s, and my oh my, what a year it will be.

Obviously, the first quarter of 2012 is going to be insane and I could list a ton of great looking games here that will be dropping between now and March (Bioshock Infinite, Deadspace 3, Tomb Raider, Crysis 3…) The rest of the year is shaping up quite nicely as well. However, I’d be lying if I said those were the games I’m most looking forward to. My interests lie in the slightly-less-than-mainstream sector of the videogame market, and these five in particular have me literally jumping for 2013.

Castlevania: Mirror of Fate – My love of Castlevania has been well documented on Power Cords. I love Symphony of the Night and its sequels, and the entire series is filled with great, memorable games. Even though I have some reservations about Castlevania: Mirror of Fate, I’m optimistic. A new 2D Castlevania is almost as exciting as a new 2D Metroid, and beggars can’t be choosers.  Definitely on my radar.

Sir, You are Being Hunted – It’s really hard to describe this Kickstarter-funded indie game. So instead, I’ll show you the video that got me excited for the game in the first place. Keep in mind this is an extremely early build, but it still shows what the game is going for.

Double Fine’s Projects – I’m gonna cheat — instead of talking about just one game, I’m going to talk about THREE! Ever since Psychonauts and Brutal Legend, Double Fine Productions have remained a favorite studio of mine. Thanks to an extremely successful Kickstarter campaign, the studio is now hard at work on a brand-new adventure game. But that’s not all! In just a few days, they will be releasing their 2D adventure The Cave on Steam. BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE! The company recently lifted the veil on their internal design contest, Amnesia Fortnight. Aside from being an amazing community- and charity-building event, Amnesia Fornight gave birth to new projects. One in particular from a previous internal event, Brazen, is a Monster Hunter-esque action game where Greek-inspired heroes battle mythic beasts. All these games look great, and further cement Double Fine as an important and special studio. Actually, speaking of Monster Hunter…

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate – While a lot of people (many Power Cords contributors especially) get into capturing and training pocket-sized monsters, I spend my time hunting and trapping giant ones. Monster Hunter is my Pokemon — or at least it used to be. I haven’t played Monster Hunter since the gen 1 games (Monster Hunter Freedom, specifically) but I cannot wait to get back into the series with Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate. And with Monster Hunter 4 hitting in Japan this year and hopefully North America soon after, there are plenty of epic hunts in my future.

Dark Souls II – The announcement of Dark Souls II took me by surprise; I wasn’t expecting a sequel to one of my all-time favorite games so soon. In fact, I wasn’t really expecting one at all. While some fans reacted harshly to early details about the game, this article put many of the concerns I had about Dark Souls II to rest. I don’t want an easy mode as much as the next guy (I sincerely doubt there will be one, just for the record) and I wish Miyazaki had a stronger presence in the design, but I haven’t been this stoked for a game in years. By far my most anticipated game of 2013.

One man’s despair is another man’s excitement.

While those five may be the big ones for me, there’s more out there to be excited about. Phantasy Star returns with Phantasy Star Online 2. Retro Studios is working on a still-unknown project, and there are rumors of new Zelda, Donkey Kong Land, and Yoshi’s Island all on 3DS. And, if the promise Everquest Next pans out, it could be a truly revolutionary MMORPG. 2013 is going to be absolutely nuts. Oh, and there’s going to be another Castlevania game next year, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2. So, yeah. Nuts.

Movies and Television in 2013

Movies and television are kinda Marshal’s bag, but I dabble. A while ago, I made the conscious decisions that film would take a back seat to my preferred entertainment medium, videogames. However, there are still some big movies and tv series I look forward to seeing. First off, Game of Thrones returns in April, and season 3 officially marks me not knowing what happens next in the series. Then, of course, the final season of Breaking Bad. I’d go so far as to say it’s the best crime drama series I’ve ever seen, and I’m eager to see the end. For films, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is my big one. It’s a year away, sure, but An Unexpected Journey was really good, and I’m excited for part 2. Finally, Guillermo del Toro’s next big-screen hit, Pacific Rim hits next summer. It may look like just another summer tent-pole blockbuster, but the Kaiju Monster fan in me sees something more…

Oh, and maybe show off more of the new Godzilla? Please?

Music in 2013

2012 was a pretty good year for music, but not amazeballs like 2011. In fact, it was kind of a lukewarm year, and I spent a lot of time with bands that weren’t the uber-extreme-disgustingly-filthy metal I’ve been blasting into my skull the past few years (check out my top 21 albums of 2012 here). I rediscovered my love for prog rock, stoner metal, and electronic music. In the past couple years, I’ve become a much more casual listener of music overall. Still, a bunch of great bands will be releasing new music next year, and I plan on reviewing and talking about these releases more actively.

New Year’s Resolutions

I want to read more. I was given a large stack of new books for Christmas, including a few new graphic novels. I enjoy reading quite a bit, and could really stand to spend a few more hours each weekend with a book. So that’s my new year’s resolution. I’m also making an effort to write consistently, but with so much excitement and what is sure to be a news-packed year, I doubt that’ll be much of an issue.

Power Cords in 2013

We’ve mentioned it before, but we’ve got big changes coming up soon. In fact, we’re just a few days away from finally making our announcement. What will it be? You’ll have to wait and find out, but I can assure you we’ll have plenty of new things to talk about next year. There will be more features, more reviews, more videos, more podcasts, new topics, new voices, but the same passion and identity we do our best to create. I’m really excited.

And with that, thus concludes regular posting on Power Cords for this year. Marshal’s got a list or two saved up for you guys, so stick around for those. But don’t take our silence for laziness — we’re hard at work on our next venture, and can’t wait to finally unveil it!

Happy New Year, and best wishes,

-Brendan, and the Power Cords crew.

Blashpemy! Exposing the Satanic Illuminati of Metal Music!

No, I didn’t misspell that.

In this first part of a planned 3-part series, youtuber AprilandWayneShow “expose” the hidden truths of metal music, such as demonic possession, the hidden symbolism, and mind-controlling messages leading youth to drugs, promiscuity, bisexuality, suicide, violence, and worst of all, “BLASHPEMY!”

Yep. Apprently my favorite form of music is evil? I was unaware. Gosh, I guess I better repent.

Watch the video below and be saved:

I sincerely hope this is a troll. Plus, the bands featured are pretty tame, and rather big names in the mainstream metal community(oxymoron). If this is honest, I sincerely, SINCERELY hope they never hear about bands like Dragged Into Sunlight, Leviathan, Mayhem, Burzum, or Deathspell Omega… Or worse. 

Anyway, hope you all have a good day. And remember: Smoke Crack and Worship Satan! 🙂

More awesome videogame remixes: Metroid Metal

So last week I featured Cory Johnson’s post-rock Legend of Zelda remixes, and I hope you guys enjoyed it! This week, I’d like to share with you another of my favorite videogame remixes, Metroid Metal.

Metroid Metal is a group of musicians and popular remixers(is that a word?) who take the iconic spacey tunes of the Metroid franchise and rework them into awesome instru-prog metal. If you’re a fan of Metroid and like to rock out to bands like Animals As Leaders, Scale The Summit, or Electro Quarterstaff, then you’ll dig Metroid Metal. These are some of the most listenable renditions of videogame music I’ve ever heard, and even though I discovered these guys a few years ago, their 2009 album Varia Suite is still in constant rotation, and their 2010 EP Expansion Pack is equally good.

Give ’em a listen and be sure to support the band!

Guest Blog: My Biased Review of Periphery 2: This Time Its Personal

In our first ever Power Cords guest blog, metalhead, playstation fan, and full-time Thor impersonator, Jordan Kessler give his totally biased review of Periphery’s latest auditory assault, Perphery II: This Time it’s Personal. Enjoy!

I have to first start this review off by saying that Periphery guitarist Mark Holcomb and I are very close. In 2004 I had the prestigious honor of being Marks roommate in college, which completely rocked. I was moderately into heavy metal at the time, skimming the surface with gateway bands like Metallica, Motorhead, and Iron Maiden. We instantly clicked (Really on anything; ethnic food, video games, movies) and before you knew it we were seeing Children of Bodom live, grieving over the death of Dimebag Darrell, and casually meeting our new god Devin Townsend backstage.

Mark and metal had a profound effect on me and while you’re probably saying to yourself, “they formed a band right?” you’d be wrong. I possess zero musical talent. I mean, I look good in corpse paint and I can carry a tune, but instruments fall to ruin in my hands. Now Mark on the other hand, here is a guy who can wail on a guitar and I don’t just mean play Stairway to Heaven and call it good, this guy is creative. I rarely ever heard the same thing twice and if I did it was because the riff was beyond catchy (Periphery 2’s Scarlet comes to mind, a Mark Holcomb original). With this skill Mark put together Haunted Shores, which certainly had it ups and downs but was definitely a worthwhile endeavor. It certainly caught Periphery’s leader Misha Monsoor’s ear.

And well, the rest is Periphstory.

Now I guess I should talk about the album, years in the making by a band that in my opinion has had more stops and starts than my bike. I was there for all the band member changes, the potential label deals, and of course the announcement of Spencer Sotelo as their new singer and some time after that, Mark as their new guitarist.

With all my Periphery knowledge in mind I am happy to say that this album is a triumph for this group. I know I only get to say this once for a band, but I mean it. It is a triumph. The guitars are tight, the riffs are phenomenal, the production is on point, but the star of the show is the before mentioned Spencer Sotelo. Spencer roars like a beast on this album adding his incredible range to the Periphery onslaught. Compared to the first album, an album that had forced Sotelo to sing songs written for a different vocalist (Casey Sabol), he now sings under his own power, unhindered by what came before. He is own man now and while we will always love this band for the riffery, the soul of this group has become Sotelo.

I don’t have much else to say really except this and it’s going to sound really sappy. You have to fight for your dreams. I literally watched Mark scratch and claw to his now success. He wanted to be a professional musician and HE IS DOING IT. I am immensely proud and inspired by him and his band mates. They have put together an incredible album and I strongly encourage you to listen to it.

Favorite Tracks: Muramasa, Have a Blast, Scarlet, MAKE TOTAL DESTROY, Erised

Check out more Periphery here.

Check out this Legend of Zelda post-rock collection

It’s been a while since I posted about music; there’s been a handful of great releases, but I’ve been neck deep in games industry stuff for the past few months. As such, I feel compelled to give this section a bit more attention! So I’m gonna tell you lads and ladies about a wonderful post-rock collection of The Legend of Zelda remixes.

As a fan of The Legend of Zelda (well, a few entries in the series, at least), I’ve always loved the franchise’s iconic tunes. In fact, Ocarina of Time was the first game that really sucked me in, and is probably the biggest reason I’ve stuck with the medium all these years. I played through Ocarina time and time again, memorizing every cracked wall or hidden rupee, and getting every note of every song forever ingrained into my still-plastic brain. My younger brother even taught himself how to play the piano by learning the songs of Zelda by ear.

Today, I’m what some may call a “music nerd.” I enjoy music, the culture, and the atmosphere of it all, and I think I owe a lot of that to videogame music as it was the first type of music I really loved, memorized, and hummed to myself all day long, and The Legend of Zelda most of all.

It’s a rather important part of my family’s history, as strange as that may sound.

So when I learned that musician Cory Johnson had released a collection of post-rock Zelda tunes, I kind-sorta flipped out. Sufficed to say, hearing these songs — bursting at the seams with nostalgia and childhood memories — being filtered through the beauty, complexity and passion of post-rock is a joy. So far, this stands among my albums of the year — something I never say for videogame music (except for Metroid Metal’s Varia Suite). I would very highly recommend this collection to any and all Zelda fans or fans of the post-rock genre. And if you so happen to enjoy both, well I’m sure you’ll be very, very pleased.

And the best part? It’s completely free. Check it out.

(A special thanks to NUReviews for posting the collection.)

Saying goodbye to MCA.

There’s not a lot to say here that hasn’t already been said. MCA lost his near-three year battle with cancer last Friday.

It was an odd day. I was home visiting my Mother for her birthday, enjoying being around my family and taking a break from classes and work. I had been spinning my new copy of Sleep’s Dopesmoker reissue, and just relaxing. Got on twitter, and perhaps fittingly, read a Tweet from Elijah Wood offering words and well wishes for Adam Yauch and his family. MCA had passed.

My weekend took a sudden and sharp turn.

I grew up in the ’90s; I never got to see The Beasties live (a dream of mine which had only grown in recent years), never listened to their records on vinyl, and never watched their videos on MTV at the height of their career. I didn’t grow up in Brooklyn or immerse myself in hip-hop growing up. Yet, despite being a die-hard metal head, I can say with absolute certainty that The Beastie Boys were the first group I ever knew by name; “Intergalactic” was the first music video I really got into; and Licensed to Ill was the first rap CD I ever owned. The Beastie Boys, for all intents and purposes, were my first favorite band, and played a heavy roll in my teenage years. To this day, no group has been more listened to or remained in my library longer than them. Even as I grew up and discovered new music, The Beasties were always a band I counted on — whether their rap verses, instrumental music, or early punk tunes, there is no era of the group I don’t enjoy.

To hear MCA is no longer with us was one of the hardest things to swallow. I never thought I’d be living in a world without all three Beastie Boys, yet for every day forward, that’s exactly the world I’ll be waking up to every morning. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but for every fan of MCA and the Beasties, the world will just never be quite the same. We’ve lost a hip-hop legend, a creative mastermind, and just an awesome dude.

Adam ‘ MCA’ Yauch, being a practicing Buddhist, spread the word of compassion and patience through some of the best music made throughout the last few decades. I hope that he gets to party as hard in his next life as he did in this one.

Rest in peace MCA.

Brendan Recommends #1: Prog Metal

Welcome to the first installment of “Brendan Recommends!”

Just to get a sense of what this is all about, for the next few weeks I’ll be posting weekly articles recommending you all bands/artists I enjoy from a multitude of genres. Now, if you’ve followed the music section of Power Cords at all, you know I’m the resident metal nerd ’round these parts. So of course, the majority of stuff I post will be concerning extreme music in some way.

But fear not! I have several non-metal/hardcore themed posts coming as well, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled. However, the whole reason I’m doing these is to give you a jumping off point to discover new music. Everything I post here has my 100% stamp of approval — these are my favorite bands of their respective genres, and I want to share them with you.

So without further ado, let’s get started with my prog metal recommendations!

1. Gojira — Full disclosure, I’m still getting familiar with this band. I’ve only recently begun to really delve into the discography of this fantastic French quartet, and I’m blown away by the music they produce.

Gojira are somewhat of an enigma. They play highly progressive and experimental death metal about saving the environment — not necessarily a common formula for success in any genre of extreme music. And yet, they’ve gained immense popularity and garnered near-universal praise from critics. Why? Because the music they make is not only unique, it’s damn good. I highly recommend jumping on board with Gojira.

Check them out here, and be on watch for their new album due out June 26, via Roadrunner Records.

2. Between the Buried and Me — For a long, long time, BTBAM were my absolute favorite band. In many ways they still are — I know every song note by note, and every time I spin Colors I’m hit by a flood of nostalgic memories. But at the same time, in my opinion, BTBAM haven’t produced anything quite as spectacular as Colors and Colors Live. Now, I don’t want to sell the band short — nearly every album they’ve released easily makes my favorite albums of all time list, but they have yet to out-doColors. While the sound may not change much between releases, BTBAM are still leauges above their peers in terms of musicianship and songwriting.

BTBAM have a new album in the works, and you can find out more on them here. They’ll be on tour with a boatload of awesome bands this summer, co-headlining Summer Slaughter with death metal legends Cannibal Corpse.

3. Isis — One of the most influential post-metal bands ever, Isis were in a league all their own. Isis wrote beautiful music that combined the passion of hardcore punk with the creativity and complexity of prog rock. They were heavily influenced by Neurosis, creating a similar massive sonic atmosphere that could be felt at even their quietest moments.

Unfortunately, Isis broke up in 2010. While the members of the band still play in several other post-metal and prog projects — often with each other — nothing quite captures the atmosphere of Isis. Their catalogue stands as some of the most influential music in the metal scene.

Check out the band here. And while they may be done, the group are still releasing posthumous live albums, as well as a rumored album of unreleased material spanning the band’s career that may soon surface.

4. Mastodon — Often grouped into the southern sludge metal scene, Mastodon always had a more progressive tone about them than bands they were compared to. And ever since 2009’s Crack the Skye, Mastodon set themselves apart from the pack. After the release of Crack the Skye, Mastodon have been regarded not only as one of the best prog metal bands around, but also as one of the hardest working bands period. After non-stop touring, and finally releasing their fifth studio album The Hunter last year, Mastodon have become a household name. But don’t let all that fame and recognition fool you — these guys are just as good as they used to be, if not better.

Check out Mastodon here.

5. Protest the Hero — Coming from a strong punk rock and hardcore background, Protest the Hero approach their brand of Prog metal differently than most of the bands on this list. Protest the Hero pump out riffs and licks, writing spastic and fast music that’s still catchy and fun to listen to. Instead of writing long, instrumental passages to show off each musician’s skill, they display their talents seamlessly, each member playing alongside one another. They condense the notoriously long prog metal song into 3 to 5 minutes, widening their appeal past progressive music fans, into other genres of metal and punk. Highly energetic and extremely fun live, Protest the Hero prove that Prog doesn’t have to be longwinded or “boring.”

For more Protest, go here.

6. Periphery — Similar to Protest the Hero, Periphery write music that is easy to take in and still marvel at the ability of the musicians. Periphery are probably the band most responsible for bringing “djent” to a new generation. Not only that, but they took that Meshuggah-crafted sound and instead of continuing down the path of percussive, abrasive music, took a different path towards melody and catchy riffs. Again, this doesn’t mean they don’t have chops or can’t write complex songs — far from it in fact. They just know how to write songs that are fun to listen to and crazy technical.

Check ’em out here. They, too, have new maetrial in the works, and you can catch them alongside Between the Buried and Me on this year’s Summer Slaughter tour.

7. The Dillinger Escape Plan — And here we are at the final band on the list. some could say I saved the best for last, and I’d be lying if I said otherwise. It’s hard to put the music of DEP into words, so bare with me. Playing, fast, spastic, complex, schizophrenia-inducing music known as “mathcore,” DEP know how to fuck with your head. At times, they combine this insanity with electronic and and industrial music, and even break out into funk and rock ballads. It’s truly fascinating music, and it always sounds as if it comes naturally to them.

Beyond that, their live show is notoriously ferocious and high energy, and must be seen to be believed.

Of all the new records currently being worked on, DEP’s is the one I’m most excited for. It might be jarring or at times near-unlistenable upon first listen, but stick with it and you’ll find their music to be some of the most addicting and powerful tunes to have ever graced ruptured your ear drums. More Dillinger here.

That’s all for now folks, hope you enjoyed it! It certanly doesn’t cover the entirety of the genre, nor all my favorites, but I feel it’s a good list to get started with. I’ll be back next week with more recommendations. Feel free to suggest genres you’d like to see me cover, as well as offer your own recommendations in the comments!

Tupac at Coachella. How I felt about his return from the dead.

After 16 years, tupac made a appearance to sing two songs next to his old friends Dr.dre and Snoop Dogg. Digital domain is the production company that brought Pac to life, which is the same company that was responsible for creating a young Jeff Bridges in the new “Tron” movie (which after hearing that makes perfect sense).  Although digital domain wont release information about how the hologram is created they did say a hologram of this caliber could range anywhere from $100,000 to $400,000 to create.

Not being the biggest tupac fan to begin with, I wasn’t as moved by his return as I’m sure others were. If it were up to me John Bonham would have made a ghostly reappearance to play “Moby Dick” with the other members of Zeppelin one last time, or maybe “A Whole Lotta Love.” But I digress. Though gangster rap isn’t typically on my list of music in my zune library, the amazing realism they were able to put on stage is mind blowing. Not only was this an all new performance from Mr.Shakur, he also said “whats up coachella?!” and was able to converse back and forth at Snoop gesturing to him like he was there in the flesh.

But just as quickly as he came back, he vanished in a white light and faded back into our memory. If you guys could have a artist come back from the grave to do a concert, who would you choose and why? Also go ahead and look at the performance below!

Just who is this Kurt Ballou fella, anyway?

If you’re paying attention, you’re probably aware that a large majority of the great metal albums released in the past few years have been produced by Kurt Ballou. If you’ve unfamiliar, Kurt is the mastermind behind Godcity Studios, as well as the guitarist for the legendary band Converge. He’s now become one of the biggest names in metal and extreme music, recording and producing albums for some of the biggest and freshest names in metal and hardcore. In fact, in this past month alone a handful of albums he produced debuted, including the most recent records from Black Breath, and High on Fire.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering about this guy — be it as a person, his work with converge, or his Godcity engineering and producing — you should really watch the interview Scion A/V did with him recently. Actually, watch it regardless. It’s long, but it’s a very interesting and in-depth look at Burt Ballou and how he works. And after you check that out, scroll down and watch another rad video, this time a guided of a tour Godcity Studios (again brought to you Scion A/V. Can I just say, Scion’s support for the metal scene and culture is extremely cool).

Personally, Mr. Ballou is probably the biggest reason I listen to extreme music these days. To be honest, my interest in Converge isn’t as deep as others, but I find the music he writes to be inspiring and powerful. It’s his producorial and sound engineering work is what I am so passionate about. In fact, if it wasn’t for bands like Trap Them and Kvelertak and Kurt’s amazing work with these types of bands, I probably wouldn’t be listening to the bands I am today. In addition to the aforementioned Trap Them, Kvelertak, High on Fire, and Black Breath, his work with other groups like Doomriders, The Secret, and All Pigs Must Die are still some of my favorite pieces of music.

It’s come to the point now to where I see the words “Godcity Studio” or “Kurt Ballou” attached to a project, I become immediately interested. I am extremely thankful the underground extreme music scene has Kurt and people like him to define and refine the sound of metal and hardcore for our generation. Any fan of heavy music owes quite a bit to this man.

High on Fire “De Vermis Mysteriis” Album Review

What if Jesus had a twin who died at birth to give Jesus his life? And then what if the twin became a time traveler right then? He lives his life only going forward in time until he finds this scroll from an ancient Chinese alchemist who derived a serum out of the black lotus, and then starts traveling back. He can see the past through his ancestors’ eyes, but his enemies can kill him if they kill the ancestor that he’s seeing through at the time.

— Matt Pike, on the  concept for De Vermis Mysteriis

If there’s one thing you should take away from High on Fire’s latest album, De Vermis Mysteriis, is that at age 40, frontman Matt Pike hasn’t slowed one bit. In fact, in many ways this latest album shows a refreshed and focused High on Fire, able to mix things up even 7 albums and 24 years deep into their career.

Perhaps the biggest and most apparent shift is in the album’s production. Certainly High on fire have always been well-regarded in the metal scene, building upon their trademark fuzzed-out sound with skillful and memorable guitar work — a sound they established on Art of Self Defense and refined on Surrounded by Theives and On Blessed Black Wings. But on their 2007 release Death is this Communion, that heavy low end was mix-out some, allowing for experimentation to take center stage. That new sound was continued on 2010’s Snakes for the Divine, though the experimental moments were traded for passages of shredding and riff worship.

But here, on their latest record, a new sound emerges. It shouldn’t be any surprise at this point, but once again Kurt Ballou (Black Breath, Every Time I Die, Kvelertak, Trap Them) takes the producer helm on this album. Mr. Ballou is certainly making quite a name for himself, especially now that he is working with long-established bands like High on Fire. De Vermis Mysteriis proves he has an ear for much more than metallic-hardcore or mathcore; now applying his skills to stoner-metal, High on Fire’s sound has been taken to new heights. Instead of rehashing or recapturing the tone of past albums, here the band feels more refined. Each element is present and clear — drums punch, bass roars, and guitar rips. It’s wonderful to hear and feel the bass mixed so perfectly. It’s classic Ballou, creating a mix where every instrument rings through, yet the raw, dirty tones of each create heaviness without excess distortion or fuzz. Put simply, the production is excellent, and a standout aspect of the record.

That clear-yet-heavy production gives the band the freedom to display just how great of songwriters and musicians they are. We always new Matt Pike could melt faces with even the simplest of riffs, but here he gifts us with melodies and vocal harmonies heretofore unheard of on their previous albums. But don’t fret, those grooves and riffs that define High on Fire’s song writing are here in full force (as on “Madness of an Architect” and “King of Days”). His vocal delivery is perhaps is most passionate and aggressive. Quite often, his harsh vocals are the sharpest they’ve ever been, reaching violent new heights(“De Vermis Myteriis’), and his “cleans” create powerful harmonies that elevate the melodic passages of the record (like in the opening track, “Serums of Liao”). Lyrically, the record is classic High on Fire, but the concept behind them is something else entirely (see above quote). All I can say is that Pike’s creativity shows no sign of slowing.

The rest of the band bring just as much to the table. Jeff Matz’s grooving bass lines have never been quite as audible as on this album, and it’s a shame to think  we’ve missed out on so much all this time. It was always apparent Matz was a great bass player and could support Matt Pike’s guitar work well, but now we can hear the personality and power he can put into those four strings. Metal is rather notorious for mixing out the bass, but between Kurt Ballou’s production and Jeff Matz’s skill, every note is heard, adding layers to the High on Fire dynamic.

Completing this holy trinity is Des Kensel behind the drum kit. His snare hits are tight and stab through the production cleanly; his symbols are clear and crisp, never tinny or muffled. Many metal records suffer from having the drums mixed either too quiet or too over bearing, or, which is most often the case, just sitting behind the other instruments, providing a beat and occasional fill, but never really impressing. De vermis Mysteriis is not one of these albums. Kensel’s offering is just as important to the song structure as the riffs, and (once again) the production creates such a perfect interplay between the three musicians; no one dominates, and every element feels important.

It’s hard to find much wrong with De Vermis Mysteriis. There are certainly points where the album simply “sounds like High on Fire.” Which, to be fair, isn’t a bad thing, but it bears mentioning for those who want something radically different. There’s some predictability, but this is probably the band’s most unique and well-crafted album, while still remaining true to their legacy. It’s the first High on Fire record I feel compelled to listen to in its entirety every single time I spin it, something I can’t say about any of their past releases, with the possible exception of On Blessed Black Wings. I had my reservations and apprehensions about this record. I thought it would just be Death is this Communion pt. III. But instead, we’re gifted with a refreshing, refined High on Fire; a downright amazing metal album in every right. I have no reason not to recommend this. I you like High on Fire at all, you’ll love this. And if you don’t, give it a shot, you may be surprised. There’s something here for any metal fan, even if doom or stoner metal aren’t your normal genres of choice.

De Vermis Mysteriis drops April 3rd, via E1 Records. You can stream it in its entirety for free at NPR, and be sure to order it here, and check out High on Fire’s official page.

Genre: Stoner/Doom Metal

For fans of: Sleep, Mastodon, The Sword, Yob, Red Fang, Black Sabbath, etc.