The riffage and snarling vocals of Matt Pike, grooving bass of Jeff Matz, and pounding drum work of Des Kensel makes Snakes For The Divine a phenomenal listen from start to finish. If you haven’t heard of High On Fire or if you have but never gave them a listen, now is the time. From the opening solo of the opening title track with its reminiscence to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” all the way through the finals notes of “Holy Flames of the Firespitter” this album is chock full of ear bending riffs, wailing solos and relentless rythm. Only two tracks off the album clock in at under 6 minutes (not counting the interlude “The Path” at 1:20) and every minute is full of pulse pounding, headbanging intensity that pulls no punches.
As some bands fizzle out on creativity or just plain burn out over time, High On Fire continues to improve on every album and Snakes For The Divine continues that trend. The one-two punch of “Snakes For The Divine” into “Frost Hammer” doesn’t slacken its pace until the melodic breakdown late into Frost Hammer and then comes back kicks your teeth out in Pike’s repeated finals bellows of “Frost Hammer” before closing out the song.
The band gives you a few minutes to catch your breath during the murky “Bastard Samurai” but whips right back into their fury with “Ghost Neck” and “Fire Flood and Plague.” The latter runs at breakneck speed until its final moments and then gives way to the mid-paced “How Dark We Pray.”
The final wallop comes from the aforementioned closing track “Holy Flames Of The Firespitter.” This track starts off strong and gains more and more force as it soldiers on and turns 4 minutes into more tempo changes and riffs than conceivable in such a short timeframe.
All in all, this album is impossible to put down and has been given at least 1 spin a day since I picked it up. The nods to Black Sabbath and Motorhead are prominent and melded together so well it feels like the 2 somehow went and conceived a child and named it High On Fire. Overall Rating: 9 out of 10.

–Deuce \m/