[Literature]<\/p>\n
Based on a true story*<\/i><\/p>\n
By Michael Caldwell<\/p>\n
Of course I have to wait\u2026and wait. The print shop, shit! I\u2019m still only in the print shop. Every moment I stay in this room, I get weaker, and every moment the noxious smell gets stronger. Each time I look around, the walls move in a little tighter.<\/p>\n
Feeling compressed, I close my eyes, but then my ears behold the distant rumbling of heavy metal thunder. It\u2019s beguiling like the wail of the Sirens. So I take a cautious peek into the operations room. A young technician looks up from his mechanism as the question leaps like vomit from my lips, \u201cWho are you listening to?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUh, I don\u2019t know dude, that\u2019s Kurtz\u2019s stuff. He\u2019s in the back\u2026the back\u2026the back…<\/p>\n
I do not love the smell of chemicals in the morning, but I have to put a name to the phenomenon I am hearing. The horror of venturing further into the pit gives me pause, yet the thunder beckons. Further and further I journey until my eyes water. As they begin to roll into my head, I feel faint from the fumes.<\/p>\n
Then I see the man. He must be high from the vapors. Damn! I know I am.<\/p>\n
Kurtz\u2019s work methods appear successfully unsound. His wild, hip-length hair is constantly on the verge of getting sucked into one of the printing presses. He looks totally insane\u2014but in a good way. If Kurtz is surprised to see me it doesn\u2019t show. As we face-off, the music muscles victoriously above the drone of machinery\u2014a tribal juggernaut of guitar, bass and drums raining down upon us as a hoarse voice croaks for dear life. Oddly, I feel as if I am being enveloped by a warm, heavy blanket.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Kurtz, who are you listening too?\u201d<\/p>\n
He lifts his chin to better see through the slits that are his eyes. Then a wide smile spreads upon his lips. With all the mystical weight and deliberation of a cave sage, he proclaims, \u201cHigh on Fire.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t even find out which album. It didn\u2019t matter. I acquired them all (The Art of Self Defense, Surrounded by Thieves and Blessed Black Wings). I haven\u2019t gotten off the High on Fire boat yet. And on their latest Relapse Records release Death Is This Communion the group lightly stretches out with additional melody and the occasional undistorted stringed instrument. The acoustic led instrumental \u201cKhanrad\u2019s Wall, for example, provides a brief respite from the bludgeoning. However, for the majority of the album, the power trio remains wrapped tight as a mummy, rarely slackening in their signature full-frontal Light Brigade charge. Perhaps this time, they\u2019ll go all the way\u2014wherever that is.<\/p>\n
Fans of High on Fire\u2014which consists of Matt Pike (guitars and howls) Des Kensel (percussive percussion) and new bassist Jeff Matz (formerly of Zeke)\u2014will gladly welcome the 11 new songs into the family. The title track and the insane propulsive intro to \u201cTurk\u201d are particularly hyperbole worthy. Both sound something like \u201cchugga chugga, chunk, chunk, chunk, crash, smash, bash, bam!\u201d<\/p>\n
If this is your virgin journey up the river, hold on tight. Maybe you\u2019ll have your own Kurtz experience. For me, Death Is This Communion feels like the first time in the print shop and that\u2019s good enough.<\/p>\n
* Only one name has been changed to enhance the allusion.<\/p>\n
:::<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[Literature] High On Fire NOW! Based on a true story* By Michael Caldwell I was an errand boy sent by my boss\u2014not to collect a bill\u2014but some flyers from the print shop. Of course I have to wait\u2026and wait. The print shop, shit! I\u2019m still only in the print shop. Every moment I stay in this room, I get weaker, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[195],"class_list":["post-446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive","tag-high-on-fire-now"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":467,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2008\/04\/22\/music-reviews-by-michael-caldwell\/","url_meta":{"origin":446,"position":0},"title":"Music Reviews by Michael Caldwell","author":"admin","date":"April 22, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Note - alternate page: http:\/\/reviewermagazine.com\/rvur38music-michael-caldwell-1.htmlMusic Reviews by Michael Caldwell The Sword Gods of the Earth (Kemado Records) With their sophomore invasion Gods of the Earth, The Sword don\u2019t tinker much with the formula they stole from Black Sabbath. And why should they? That same formula was used to create their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "archive"","block_context":{"text":"archive","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/archive\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":447,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2008\/02\/17\/new-music-reviews-by-michael-caldwell\/","url_meta":{"origin":446,"position":1},"title":"New Music Reviews, by Michael Caldwell","author":"admin","date":"February 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"New Music Reviewsby Michael Caldwell Witchcraft The Alchemist (Candlelight) With their third album, Swedish heavy rockers Witchcraft earn points for sounding like an authentic and obscure group from the late 60\u2019s and early 70\u2019s, i.e. Pentagram, Wishbone Ash, and Atomic Rooster. 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When he was trying\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","block_context":{"text":"art","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/art\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1000,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2009\/06\/26\/the-king-of-pop-is-dead\/","url_meta":{"origin":446,"position":4},"title":"The King (“Of Pop”) Is Dead","author":"admin","date":"June 26, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael Jackson\u201cA.B.C.\u2019s of a legend remembered\u201dby R.A. Moore The green and gray Sheriff\u2019s Department helicopter, labeled Rescue 5 just sat down at the Los Angeles county Coroner\u2019s building. As the personnel climbed out of the unit, removing their flight helmets, the fading evening glow of a California sunset cast its\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "reflected news"","block_context":{"text":"reflected news","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/category\/reflected-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":639,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2006\/03\/28\/donc-va-la-guerre\/","url_meta":{"origin":446,"position":5},"title":"donc va la guerre","author":"admin","date":"March 28, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear friends, As you may know, there's been a recent change in the print cycle of Reviewer. After doing this many years and being consistently issued as a bimonthly, Reviewer magazine will now be a semiannual. 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