Metal juggernaut High On Fire brings tour to Berkeley's UC Theatre
BERKELEY -- Monolithic metal power trio and onetime Oakland residents High On Fire return to the Bay Area for this show at the UC Theatre in Berkeley Saturday night, topping a stellar bill that includes adventurous doom merchants Pallbearer and local favorites Glowing Brain.
Founded by renowned Sleep guitarist Matt Pike in 1998 after his seminal San Jose stoner-rock outfit imploded over label issues, Oakland-based outfit High On Fire gave Pike a chance to move away from his obsession with Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi that he explored with Sleep backed by monster drummer Des Kensel and original bassist George Rice.
Crafting aggressive riff-powered songs that nod equally to the classic-era thrash of Metallica and Slayer and the grinding crunch of Motörhead (Pike's growling vocals bear a distinct resemblance to Lemmy Kilminster's gravelly voice), High On Fire established itself as one of the modern era's true metal powerhouse bands with its recorded material (starting with their Man's Ruin debut The Art of Self Defense in 2000) and ferocious live shows.
While Melvins/Thrones bassist Joe Preston stepped in for the band's acclaimed Steve Albini produced effort Blessed Black Wings in 2005, his departure later that year led to the addition of former Zeke bassist Jeff Matz to establish arguably the band's strongest line-up yet. Since that change, High On Fire has issued a string of celebrated albums including 2007's brutal Death Is This Communion (their first to feature Matz) produced by Jack Endino and four successive gems for E1 Music: the commercial breakthrough Snakes For Divine, the heady, concept-driven effort De Vermis Mysteriis and the focused, critically acclaimed Luminiferous in 2015.
In 2018, the band released its most recent album, the pulverizing effort Electric Messiah. That salvo from High On Fire included the kind of heroic, locomotive metal riffs and intricate drumming from Kensel (who seems to up his technique with each release) that fans expect, paying tribute to Lemmy with the corrosive title track that would earn the band it's first Grammy win in 2019 for Best Metal Performance.
The trio has also gone through some major changes and struggles since then with the departure of founding drummer Kensel later that year and Pike's health issues with diabetes leading to tour cancellations, but the band would return to the stage with Chris Maggio (Wear Your Wounds, formerly with Coliseum and Trap Them) behind the kit for a number of shows.
The COVID-19 pandemic would keep the band off the road for over a year, but in 2021 the band reemerged with a new replacement drummer, powerhouse player Coady Willis of Melvins and Big Business fame. Early indications are that his percussive onslaught is helping High on Fire maintain its trademark fury. The new line-up made its recording debut with a cover of "Iron Fist" for a Motörhead tribute compilation.
While there has been little news of late on the High on Fire front beyond a handful of live shows, Pike himself is involved in a couple of creative projects that have come to the light of day. In 2021, Rare Bird Books released 'Head On A Pike: The Illustrated Lyrics of Matt Pike' that collects his lyrical works alongside illustrations by a wide array of artists, including such notables as Arik Roper, Tim Lehi, Brian Mercer, Skinner and Santos, many of whom have provided art for past Pike projects.
The guitarist and singer also released his first proper solo album entitled Pike vs. The Automaton early last year. The product of Pike's isolation during the pandemic, he ended up bashing out the new material in the garage of his new Portland, OR home (he relocated from Oakland a few years ago) with friend and original Lord Dying drummer Jon Reid.
As the experimental album took shape, the guitarist enlisted a host of other friends to collaborate on the effort including Mastodon guitar player Brent Hinds, wife Alyssa Maucere-Pike (Lord Dying/Grigax), hardcore/crust punk guitarist/singer Todd Burdette (His Hero is Gone, Tragedy, Warcry) and High on Fire's Matz playing electric saz (a Turkish instrument) on the album's epic closer "Leaving the Wars of Woe." Pike played several rounds of tour dates to promote the album, playing some of the most intimate venues he's played in years including a local stop at Thee Stork Club in Oakland last June.
The band returns to it's onetime home base of the Bay Area on Saturday for this show at the UC Theatre, joined by a pair of notable acts. Founded in 2008 by guitarist Brett Campbell and bassist/keyboardist Joseph D. Rowland while attending Central Arkansas University in Little Rock, Pallbearer came together in the wake of the duo's work in the experimental, synth-driven drone metal band Sports. After bringing second guitarist and drummer Devin Holt into the fold, the group caught the ears of labels with the self-release of a three-song demo in 2010 that showcased their monolithic style of metal.
Signing to noted metal imprint Profound Lore the following year, Pallbearer announced itself as a force on the underground ever since releasing their celebrated seismic debut Sorrow and Extinction in 2012. Weaving elements of psychedelia and progressive rock into their tuneful epics that highlight guitarist and main composer Campbell's melodic vocals, Pallbearer earned rave endorsements from such mainstream music outlets as Pitchfork, Spin and NPR.
The quartet -- rounded out by the addition of current drummer Mark Lierly after the recording of the band's debut -- has continued to push the boundaries of the genre, recording the equally acclaimed follow-up Foundations of Burden with celebrated producer (Sleep, Neurosis, Swans, Melvins) and touring with fellow metal luminaries like YOB and Tombs.
The band further refined its mix of doom, prog and psychedelia with its most accessible effort yet, 2017's Heartless. With Rowland adding more synthesizers and Campbell delivering indelible vocal melodies throughout, the album ended up on numerous "best of" lists that year. While the group would not release a follow-up until the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of 2020, Pallbearer's fourth effort Forgotten Days -- their first for new label Nuclear Blast -- once again earned the quartet universal acclaim.
For their last tour, Pallbearer celebrated the tenth anniversary of their landmark debut Sorrow and Extinction by performing the album in its entirety along with selections from their other albums. Opening band Glowing Brain has been making its piledriving Motörhead-inspired punk-metal noise since first emerging from Oakland five years ago. Bassist/singer Conrad Nichols and drummer James Lyter recorded the group's scorching debut EP with Nichols handling guitar before current six-stringer Doc Miller completed the trio's current line-up. The crew's first full-length album Brain Dust was tracked in five days at El Studio three years ago, offering up another aggressive salvo of locomotive of the band's self-described "long-haired punk."
High on Fire with Pallbearer and Glowing Brain
Saturday, Nov. 4, 7 p.m. $30
UC Theatre
