CoC : High on Fire - Surrounded by Thieves : Review

High on Fire - _Surrounded by Thieves_
(Relapse, 2002)
by: Paul Schwarz (8.5 out of 10)

Not being quite as drawn out as Sleep -- in however a good way that is -- High on Fire's work is better described as prolonged when compared to "normality"; their compostions are almost upbeat or snappy put alongside Khanate or Sunn 0)) respectively; but this is not to level negative criticism at them. That distinctively raw, fuzzy, 'stoner doom' sound is here, but the emphasis is firmly on -doom-. This ain't Kyuss -- though we loved 'em, didn't we? -- and it sure as hell ain't no QoTSA -- thank god! _Surrounded by Thieves_ is bleak -- it hounds you with droning chords and bad-trip vocals -- but yet it -rocks-. The concoction HoF whip up is intoxicating; _SbT_ is a must-try for all enthusiasts of Sleep, Eyehategod, early and latest Cathedral, Old Grandad and their ilk. Furthermore, it will be a trip, if possibly a bad one, for anyone who's not heard any rumblings from the genre that seems to house all Sabbath's most excessively -- yet -successfully- -- inbred offspring.

(article published 1/9/2002)

ALBUMS
9/26/2007	J Smit	10	High on Fire - Death Is This Communion
3/8/2005	T DePalma	9.5	High on Fire - Blessed Black Wings
1/10/2001	A Bromley	7.5	High on Fire - The Art of Defense