High On Fire Snakes For The Divine (E1 Music) I’m convinced Matt Pike wants to blow out his throat. With producer Greg Fidelman’s work on High On Fire’s fifth album, Snakes For The Divine, it sounds like Pike was aware that he’d have no choice but to try and let the angry compensate for what would prove to be a lack of loud. As a follow-up to Jack Endino’s treatment of 2007’s Death Is This Communion, Fidelman doesn’t necessarily drop the balll, (Lucky for him that he’s working with a truly accomplished, not to mention lethal, band), but he almost seems afraid of the material, too sheepish to let High On Fire truly burn.

Named 'Snakes for the Divine' as the No. 9 Metal Album of 2010. Rayfire 1.57 Serial. Track listing. All tracks written by High on Fire.

It’s possible he felt he needed to put his own stamp on the album, sort of a producer’s signature or claim of co-ownership. It’s also possible he thought cleaner was better. When it comes to bands with big sound, replication of the sort of adrenalized aural annihilation that’s associated with bands like High On Fire is crucial. More often, one would think that bands connected to such sound would be better off left to speak, (or yell as Pike does), for themselves without having to contend with studio filters and sterilizing mixers. A good example would be the criminality inflicted on MC5 for Back In The U.S.A. By Jon Landau: the man basically extracted the “Sonic” from Fred Smith.