Admittedly, I didn’t see this one coming. After releasing 2010′s Snakes for the Divine, which had its blistering moments but ultimately seemed to be working to clean up High on Fire‘s now-trademarked dirty thrash sound, the seminal Oakland outfit have announced teaming with Converge‘s Kurt Ballou for the recording of their next studio outing. One thing about Ballou: Damn near everything out of his studio sounds heavy as fuck. The prospect of a new High on Fire record just got much more interesting.

Fresh off the PR wire:

Oakland, CA, hard rock band High on Fire has entered Salem, Massachusetts‘ GodCity Studios to begin tracking their as-yet-untitled new album. The world renowned group featuring drummer Des Kensel, bassist Jeff Matz and guitarist / vocalist Matt Pike (also of legendary stoner metal trio Sleep) is collaborating with producer and Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou on the new effort; the band’s sixth studio recording and follow up to 2010′s Snakes for the Divine. A mid-2012 release date is expected via eOne Music.

“We are really stoked about recording this album,” said Jeff Matz when asked for comment. “The new songs are turning out absolutely punishing; there are some seriously sledgehammer riffs on this one! Working with Kurt has been awesome as well. He’s super easy to work with and is full of good ideas. The sounds that the guy gets are ridiculous and raw as f*ck but also clear and HUGE. I think this album will capture the essence of the band really well. It’s still early in the process, but so far it’s sounding amazing.”

Tentative song titles from the new High on Fire LP include “Serums of Liao,” “Madness of an Architect,” “De Vermis Mysteriis,” “Spiritual Rites” and “Warhorn.” Early reports mark the new record as “direct, eye-opening and powerfully supernatural.” More details on the album will be made available in the coming weeks.

There’s a new Saint Vitus song posted in the forum already, so I figured I’d bring my nerding out for the impending Metalliance show in NYC this Friday to this side of things with a quality clip of Crowbar. Filmed last Saturday (March 19) at One Eyed Jacks in the band’s hometown of New Orleans, here’s Crowbar as part of the Metalliance:

Badass.

Released six years to the day from its predecessor, 2005’s Lifesblood for the Downtrodden, the latest album from Crowbar, dubbed Sever the Wicked Hand (E1 Music), finds the New Orleans sludge progenitors embarking on a full-circle turn of their own influence. With visual layout by Mike D. of Killswitch Engage, mixing and mastering by Zeuss (Shadows Fall, etc.), management by Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta – with whom Crowbar guitarist/vocalist/central-figure Kirk Windstein also plays in Kingdom of Sorrow – and a take on their traditional sludgy sound that seems at times to favor the kind of heavy breakdowns that the subsequent generation of metallers made their name on, it could easily be said that Crowbar are now under the influence of those whom they most influenced. Listening to a song like “Liquid Sky and Cold Black Earth,” even acknowledging that the ultra-groovy breakdown is nothing new to the Windstein musical/riff-writing arsenal (he’s been doing it since the early ‘90s to great affect), on Sever the Wicked Hand, the approach is given a musical context it didn’t have even six years ago.

And why not? A lot’s happened in that time. The already-noted Kingdom of Sorrow has released two albums, and Down – the Southern metal supergroup in which Windstein joins C.O.C.’s Pepper Keenan on guitar – released their third album to huge acclaim and commercial success on the road. On perhaps a more personal note, Windstein’s sobriety is a topic of discussion lyrically on several of the Sever the Wicked Hand tracks – “Cleanse Me, Heal Me,” “As I Become One” and the title cut –and a song like the late-arriving ballad, “Echo an Eternity” seems to be not much more than your typical “rocker’s song about his kid,” if given the twist of being run through the typically Crowbar, slow-played, downtuned interpretation. That said, the lyrical appeal that runs throughout Sever the Wicked Hand, and indeed across Crowbar’s whole discography, is Windstein’s unflinching honesty. If what that brings out of his venerably guttural voice in 2011 is love for his child and his struggle to stay sober, I’m not about to fault him for that. I’d rather take what’s heartfelt than something born out of kowtowing to the expectations either of fans or critics.

Among the critiques I’ve heard of Sever the Wicked Hand is that, “it’s awfully fast,” and indeed, upon hearing advance-leaked cut “The Cemetery Angels,” I thought the same thing, even as that song breaks into one of the slowest riffs on the album for its second half. Tracks like “Liquid Sky and Cold Black Earth” and closer “Symbiosis” offer plenty of the languid pacing Crowbar is known for, and I’ll go further to say it’s a myth that Crowbar only plays slow. Some of their greatest early-career triumphs – songs like “All I Had I Gave” from 1993’s self-titled and “Waiting in Silence” from the 1991 Obedience Thru Suffering debut – relied on the juxtaposition between fast and slow parts, and that holds true for the Sever the Wicked Hand material as well. Windstein at this point knows what works in Crowbar, and he makes good use of their solidified sonic pastiche on “Protectors of the Shrine” and centerpiece “As I Become One,” which breaks into a melodic guitar interplay between Windstein and fellow six-stringer Matt Brunson that helps break the intensity Sever the Wicked Hand’s first half and set up the 3:45 ambient interlude “A Farewell to Misery” – itself a launch point for the record’s back end.

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I’d have done a 2011 list earlier, but honestly, after the massiveness that was the top 20 countdown, I needed a break from all the list-type stuff. Next thing I knew, January was more than halfway over and no predictions had yet been made about what some of the best things to come would be. Just shameful.

This is just going to be a two-parter, and I’m keeping it to five albums on each list for a total of 10 records to look forward to in 2011. If that’s not enough for you, well, stay tuned, because I’m sure there’s going to be plenty more than 10 reviews posted this year. Hell, I think there already have been, so there you go.

The reason these are “the sure bets” is because I’ve already heard them and know they rule. Let’s get to it:

Lo-Pan, Salvador: The Ohio four-piece’s Small Stone label debut full-length has “classic” written all over it. I heard some rough mixes back in December and I’ve heard some less-rough mixes now, and I honestly haven’t felt this way about a straightforward stoner rock record since I heard the first Sasquatch album in 2004. The songwriting is brilliant, the performances masterful and the production stellar. You’re gonna shit when you hear “Chichen Itza” and “Deciduous.”

Crowbar, Sever the Wicked Hand: It’s kind of funny, but Crowbar influenced a whole younger generation of bands and on Sever the Wicked Hand, it sounds like that younger generation has re-influenced Crowbar, or at least reminded them of what they do best. Some of the material on Sever the Wicked Hand is a little fast, but there are some real quality tracks, and at this point it’s been so long I’m just glad they have a new record out.

Earth, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I: Part one in a series of two new works by Earth , Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light I (review here) brings cello accompaniment to Dylan Carlson‘s trademark drone guitar, filling out the sound with a subtle and melodic lushness it’s never before had. Earth are never going to be for everyone, but their latest should delight longtime fans and catch a couple newcomers as well.

Weedeater, Jason… the Dragon: Sludge meets swampy Southern blues on the latest record from the North Carolinian outfit which, like Earth, will be released via Southern Lord in March. Their sound is as nasty as ever, but there’s evidence of stylistic branching out in songs like “Homecoming” and “Palms of Opium,” and it’s exciting to hear the band trying new things, especially when they work. Full review is here.

Six Organs of Admittance, Asleep on the Floodplain: I’ve been a nerd for this Ben Chasny solo project for a number of years now, and on his new record, which is due out on Drag City on Feb. 22, the Comets on Fire guitarist does away with some of the psychedelic and/or droning aspects of the last couple albums in favor of a return to acoustic solo-songwriter material. Translation: He’s right in his element. More to come.

Tomorrow we’ll do Pt. 2, which will be full of pure speculation, and thus a lot of fun.

If you’ve ever wondered what it might be like to have Kirk Windstein yell at you with his hood up while standing at the bottom of a stone staircase (and who hasn’t?), ArtistDirect just debuted this new video for the track “The Cemetery Angels” off Crowbar‘s upcoming release, Sever the Wicked Hand. Heavy:

Sever the Wicked Hand is due out Feb. 8, 2011, on E1 Music. Check out Amy Sciarretto‘s original post of the video here. She’s good people.

After the experience of seeing Entombed at Championship Bar and Grill in scenic Trenton, New Jersey, I knew I had to go back for Crowbar. It’s about a two-hour ride from where I live, but that room is too small to miss it. The difference is, instead of foolishly putting myself right up front for Jersey hardcore’s finest to punch at and spill my beer, I hung back and actually got to enjoy the set.

Crowbar‘s first tour in however many years, blah blah blah. More important as far as I’m concerned is how rusty is the band behind guitarist, vocalist and recent Obelisk interviewee Kirk Windstein, and how rusty is the man himself? Crowbar‘s been playing shows for a couple months now, and I was ultra-glad to have the chance to see them. The sound at Championship’s wasn’t ideal, but they made the best of it, and the crowd ate it up, moshing, chanting the band’s name, throwing fists, etc. For me, it was just such a relief to see Crowbar again. I couldn’t help but smile.

They played the hits: “Planets Collide,” “I Have Failed,” “Thru the Ashes,” “New Dawn,” “Conquering.” “Lasting Dose” from 2001′s Sonic Excess in its Purest Form was especially well-received, and the title cut from the upcoming Sever the Wicked Hand — Crowbar‘s first album for E1 Music, due out in February — was welcomed like an old friend. The guitars sounded low, which was a bummer, and that pushed Windstein‘s vocals way to the front. Both he and guitarist Matthew Brunson (who also contributed some unfortunate backing vocals to “Planets Collide”) were playing through Dime amps, apparently named by Dean Guitars in tribute to Dimebag Darrell, and they looked brand new. I hope they didn’t have to pay for them.

But the lack of guitar oomph aside, there was zero to complain about in terms of the setlist, the Yuengling special at the bar or anything else. I didn’t see any of Black Tusk‘s set, but heard a bit from outside, and they sounded meh, for whatever that’s worth. Crowbar played an hour and did no encore, ending with “All I Had I Gave,” and it was a professional if distant set. I noted the O’Douls on Windstein‘s amps, and his eyes looked like they were seeing the show a new way. I think everyone’s pulling for him for doing what he needs to do, and if there was a problem with the show, it wasn’t that the singer was drunk. Actually, as his voice was pumped high through the Championship’s P.A., he sounded better than I’ve ever heard him.

Getting to split out of there at about 11:30 was a bonus, and since it was Trenton and I’ve never been down there without seeing flashing lights, the cops showed up to tend to some dude on the ground outside. I don’t know what the deal was there, but at this point it’s just part of the experience. Might as well list it on the website: “Tonight: Crowbar, Black Tusk, A Life Once Lost, seven other bands… and the cops.” Good fun all around.

Kirk Windstein live photos by Lorenzo Ferraro (website here).

There were arguments to be made for and against Zoroaster‘s 2010 E1 Music debut, Matador, but at the end of the day, I dug the record and it’s off-kilter methodology. The Atlanta trio’s third album overall, it was time for Zoroaster to shake up their approach. Last year’s Voice of Saturn saw them begin to experiment with clean vocals and more melodically-conscious songwriting, and aided by the production of Sanford Parker, Matador took that experimentation in new and innovative directions.

It’s a fascinating record, and hypnotic. If you played it for me back to back with Zoroaster‘s full-length debut, Dog Magic (2007), I wouldn’t think they were the same band, or at very least not the same personnel therein. But ultimately it may have come too quickly on the heels of Voice of Saturn, which was an honorable mention addition to last year’s top 10, as it seems like some of the material could have been developed further — the toying with traditional rock and roll guitar conventionalism on “Titan,” for example — before being put to tape.

Zoroaster are proving themselves able to produce at a consistently high quality, and Matador is a big part of that, but I’d be interested to see what came out of it if they took two years between albums instead of one again. The jump from Dog Magic to Voice of Saturn was much greater than that from Voice of Saturn to Matador, and as they’re at a pivotal point in their career — right on the verge of the bigger metal notoriety of bands like High on Fire — it’s time for them to really hunker down and start writing great songs. I hope in the future we can look back at Matador as the beginning of that process.

On the afternoon we spoke (Friday, Nov. 12, in case anyone’s feeling precise), Crowbar guitarist, vocalist and driving-force Kirk Windstein turned in the final approved version of the artwork for his band’s first album in six years, Sever the Wicked Hand, which is due out Feb. 8, 2011. It’s their E1 Music debut, and as Windstein has seen his profile grow to new heights the past several years in bands like the supergroup Down and his Kingdom of Sorrow project with Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed, the planets look to be aligning for the most successful run Crowbar‘s had yet in their 20-plus years together.

With several months of sobriety under his belt and a cross-band support system of family and friends to back him, Windstein embarks optimistically on this new era in the band with whom he first made his name. In our discussion, he mentioned several times “leaving the negativity behind” as a theme present on Sever the Wicked Hand, and he seems to have done just that. For a guy with a reputation for such downtrodden tones and whose emotional and existential struggles have been documented lyrically across three different decades now, he seems awfully happy.

And who could begrudge him that? He’s certainly earned it, and if the leaked advance track on the album, “The Cemetery Angels” is any indicator, in addition to getting his personal life together, he hasn’t lost touch with what made Crowbar the pivotal sludge act they’ve always been. I’m sure there’s bound to be some of his trademark Crowbar ballads on Sever the Wicked Hand, but one listen to “The Cemetery Angels” and it’s clear Windstein hasn’t left out their special brand of heaviness. When he says “Bring it down!” two minutes and 20 seconds into the song (which you can hear in a YouTube clip at the bottom of the interview), he’s not just talking about tempo.

Sludge from the master thereof. Crowbar is rounded out by guitarist Matthew Brunson (a Kingdom of Sorrow bandmate), bassist Patrick Bruders and drummer Tommy Buckley, but as ever, Windstein‘s guiding the chaos. In the course of our conversation, he discussed returning to Crowbar after working for the last several years exclusively on Down and Kingdom of Sorrow, getting sober, balancing his time between bands, recording Sever the Wicked Hand, touring and much more.

The full Q&A is after the jump. Please enjoy.

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If you had plans for the night Crowbar‘s gonna be in town, you might want to seriously consider canceling them. Dates below. Click the image to open it bigger.

Because it’s the internet and exclusivity is a thing of the past, you can hear the studio version of High on Fire‘s “Frost Hammer” right here on The Obelisk. Credit where credit’s due, Stereogum got the official premiere, but I’ve gotten halfway decent at this internet thing the last 12 months, so I more or less grabbed the embedding code from them and put it here. Now I can make believe I’m relevant enough to debut new High on Fire songs too. It’ll be like a tea party, only with cups of sadness.

Here’s the track, followed by some PR wire info:

Today, High on Fire premieres the first new song from Snakes for the Divine, unleashing the powerhouse “Frost Hammer.”  The out-of-this-world track sees the Oakland band at the peak of its powers, delivering state-of-the-art heavy metal as only High on Fire can while legendary guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike roars about “icy skies, frozen minds and galactic eyes.”

When asked for comment on “Frost Hammer,” Pike called the song, “An icy death lullaby.”

Recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, Snakes for the Divine is High on Fire’s magnum opus, capturing every nuance of the legendary band’s ongoing musical progression and evolution into one of heavy music’s all time greats. Production by Fidelman — the man who produced Slayer’s World Painted Blood and is mixing the upcoming Metallica live album — boosts High on Fire’s strength and power while blackened lyrical tales of ancient wars, frozen planets and doomed societies emerge from Pike’s bellowing barks and throaty war cries.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s the Arik Roper artwork for the new High on Fire record, Snakes for the Divine. As if you needed me to tell you it rules:

Fucking killer. I want to get a poster of it, travel back in time and put it up on my 14-year-old self’s bedroom wall and say, “Listen up you little bastard! You don’t know what the hell this is yet, but you spend the next decade and a half staring at it and then maybe you’ll be worthy enough to find out.”

Snakes for the Divine is out Feb. 23 on E1 Music. I wanna be friends with it.

Oh PR wire, just when I think I’m out, you pull me back in. Here’s the latest news on High on Fire‘s new album:

World-renowned power trio High on Fire has completed work on its long-awaited, fifth studio album and follow-up to 2007’s Death is this Communion. Titled Snakes for the Divine, the record will drop on February 23, 2010 via E1 Music.

Recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman, Snakes for the Divine is High on Fire’s magnum opus, capturing every nuance of the legendary band’s ongoing musical progression and evolution into one of heavy music’s all time greats. Sharper, faster and darker than anything the group has ever recorded, Snakes for the Divine is an unrelenting tour de force, showcasing cult guitar hero Matt Pike’s utterly unique and inventive musicianship and the band’s epic, thundering sound. From the moment the leviathan-like title track explodes to kick off the album, it is immediately evident that High on Fire is determined to push modern heavy metal into new and uncharted realms.

The track listing for High on Fire’s Snakes for the Divine is as follows:

1.) Snakes for the Divine
2.) Frost Hammer
3.) Bastard Samurai
4.) Ghost Neck
5.) Fire, Flood and Plague
6.) How Dark We Pray
7.) Holy Flames of the Fire Spitter
8.) Mystery of Helm

Snakes for the Divine’s album artwork will be brought to life by longtime High on Fire cover artist Arik Moonhawk Roper.

I guess it’s a good thing, though I’d be lying if I said something in me didn’t really enjoy Zoroaster as a totally independent act doing it all through their own Terminal Doom label. Cool for them, though. I’m sure signing to E1 (formerly Koch) will do wonders for their distribution, and the more people who hear Zoroaster, the better. Here’s the news in PR wire form:

Critically acclaimed psych metal band Zoroaster has signed a worldwide recording deal with E1 Music. The celebrated avant-garde trio will enter the studio in early 2010 with producer Sanford Parker (The Gates of Slumber, Pelican) to record its label debut and follow up to 2009?s Voice of Saturn.? A summer 2010 release is expected.

?The first time I saw Zoroaster live, I was blown away and knew we had to add them to the growing E1 roster,? comments E1 Music VP of Metal Scott Givens.? ?They push the limits of the metal genre with their music and are unlike any other act out there now.? We are honored to be their partners.??? The signing of Zoroaster comes on the heels of E1 inking the like-minded High on Fire and sees the band join a first rate family of artists that includes such revered names as Satyricon, In Flames and Hatebreed.