ELECTRIC MESSIAH

Back for another round of bludgeoning stoner thrash, Oakland, California's High on Fire unleash a brass-knuckled haymaker on their eighth studio long player, the punitive and workmanlike Electric Messiah. Working once again with producer and Converge guitarist Kurt Ballou, who helmed the veteran group's two previous outings, the nine-track set commences with the aptly named "Spewn from the Earth." Heralded by a tsunami of blast-furnace beats and pick slides, the song eventually yields to frontman Matt Pike, who delivers lungfuls of impressionistic, Cthulhu mythos-rich dread that invoke Lemmy by way of AC/DC's Brian Johnson. The former entity looms large over Electric Messiah, with the title cut paying homage to the legendary Mot?rhead frontman who passed away in 2015, and whom Pike acknowledges had a huge influence on both his writing and vocal style. While the thrash elements of Electric Messiah loom large, as purveyors of uncompromising doom metal, High on Fire remain at the top of t