High on Fire, Torche, Kylesa

Description

"Savannah, Georgia seems like too sweet of a place for a band like Kylesa to be hailing from. The band’s name is a play on the Buddhist word “Kilesa,” which is defined as “various passions that defile bodily and mental states.” This band certainly livesup to its name, with a heavy sound and even heavier lyrics..."

- Steve Palopoli

With a heavy-handed approach and a sound that crashes like thunder, HIGH ON FIRE has put the power back in 'power-trio.' Less a band than a supersonic exercise in conquest by volume and sheer heaviness, the band has burned the metal rulebook and forged a new archetype.

The world-renowned power trio has begun work on its long-awaited, fifth studio album and follow-up to Death is This Communion . The band will commence pre-production in Los Angeles with producer Greg Fidelman (Metallica, Slayer, Johnny Cash) and the goal of capturing “the ultimate High on Fire experience.” The new HIGH ON FIRE album is slated for an early 2010 release. When asked for comment, Pike states, “We look forward to sharing the dark seas of our new riffs and tragic stories. Soon the next saga of High on Fire's world will be known.”

"Stoner Pop" has never existed quite like the mind-blowing debut release from Miami, Flordia's TORCHE. It was hinted at by the singer/songwriter Steve Brooks' former group Floor, founded by the mighty Black Sabbath and nearly accomplished by mainstreamers Queens of the Stone Age... but truly anthemic, triumphant and absolutely massive heavy metal has never been so damn catchy! With gloriously sung, harmonized and soaring vocal arrangements accompanying the most monolithic riffs of modern times, TORCHE reaches to push the envelope and then engulfs it in flames. To say the production on this album is "huge" would be a gross understatement, and to say this doesn't sound like the earth swallowing itself would be a flat out lie. Beauty and brawn have never joined forces with such finesse, and TORCHE are destined to ride high among the leaders of this incredible new era of heavy metal.

Kylesa is, fundamentally, a metal group, but the Savannah, GA-based outfit is otherwise difficult to categorize: elements of hardcore punk, psychedelic stoner rock, technical speed metal, and good old-fashioned Black Sabbath sludge appear in their music. Also, with a front line consisting of three very different singers instead of a single focal point, Kylesa has a musical variety lacking from many of their more monochromatic peers. Kylesa formed in Savannah in 2001, taking their unusual name from "kilesa mara," what Buddhist teachings term demons of defilement and delusion.