Doom resonated through the floors of Webster Hall Sunday night when High On Fire made their 3rd New York City appearance this year and brought along Kylesa and Torche. For almost 3.5 hours, distortion ruled, heavy was the norm and the power of the riff was unsurpassed.
Kicking off the evening promptly at 8pm was the Georgia natives Kylesa. Take 1 female on guitar and vocals, a bassist, another guitarist and 2 drummers, and you’ve got a recipe for a killer opener. It’s rare to see an opener that brings such a huge fan base but Kylesa’s brand of Southern Doom infused with psychedelic rock was a fan favorite right off the bat. Playing a non-stop 40 minute set, their fans were hooked on every note, beat, and of course, the lovely Laura Pleasants on the mike. At the end of their set, there were resounding calls for encores and one fan yelled “You should have headlined!” I had heard the buzz about how good Kylesa was prior to seeing them, but they absolutely killed and far surpassed any of my expectations.
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054125&id=1574410252&l=d1c9caf235
Torche was up next and they had a lot of work to do in keeping the crowd after following Kylesa. I’ll be honest, they should have played first. They just didn’t bring the same fierceness that Kylesa did or the rabid fan base. They also had a stand in drummer for the night, which seemed ok to me but I overheard some conversations that it hurt their performance. Basically, the crowd got a bit of a rest to prepare for the mighty High On Fire.
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054128&id=1574410252&l=f19c0210d8
Now I may be biased because I love High On Fire, but they are easily one of the best things going in metal right now. Matt Pike and Co. are top quality performers and solid musicians. Jeff Matz is the perfect compliment on bass to Pike’s insane guitar riffage and drummer Des Kensel is the glue to bring it all together. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, High On Fire are better with every listen and every performance. I caught them when they played the Gramercy Theatre back in April and this show was even better. With a set consisting of a mere 10 songs which covered about 75 minutes, the time flew and their set was over before it felt like it barely got started. Kicking off with “Frost Hammer” as back in April, this song still packs a punch as a set opener. “Blessed Black Wings” was in the set this time around and made my night as it is one of my favorite songs. The title track of their recent release “Snakes For The Divine” closed out the set but not before Pike said to the crowd prior to “Silverback” “I’m Matt, that’s Jeff and, back there is Des. This is your encore so make it worth it.” Breaking into the intro riff, he stopped and asked, “Do you feel that Doom? This song is about to punch you in the face!” I’ll be damned to say it didn’t. High On Fire brought the house down and brought the show to a close that none other could have. An out and out fantastic night of Doom, and a tour worth every minute and loss of hearing.
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054129&id=1574410252&l=189a9a43d4
Setlist:
Frost Hammer
Turk
Blessed Black Wings
Waste of Tiamat
Bagdad
Rumors of War
Bastard Samurai
Fire, Flood and Plague
Silverback
Snakes For The Divine