Electric Messiah

Electric Messiah
Electric Messiah
	;
Studio album by High on Fire
Released	October 5 2018
Recorded	February - March 2018 at Godcity Recording Studio in Salem, Massachusetts, USA
Genre	Doom Metal, Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal
Length	56:52
Label	E1 Music
Producer	Kurt Ballou, High on Fire
High on Fire chronology

Electric Messiah is the eighth studio album by American metal band High on Fire, released on 5 October 2018 through Entertainment One Music. It is the band's third album to be produced by Kurt Ballou^[1] and it serves as a tribute to Lemmy Kilmister of the band Motörhead.^[2] The song "Electric Messiah" notably won the award for "Best Metal Performance" at the 2019 Grammy Awards.^[3] It is the band's last album with founding drummer Des Kensel, who announced his departure in July 2019.

Background[]

Development on Electric Messiah would begin in February 2018, following extensive touring in support of Luminiferous.^[4] Working again at Godcity Studios in Salem with Kurt Ballou, production and recording would be finished by March.^[5] Guitarist/vocalist Matt Pike would note that this would be the first album he would write and record sober, along with when he had moved to Portland, Oregon.^[6] In an interview with NPR, Pike would speak at length about the album being a tribute to Lemmy and how the working title was actually Insect Workout With Lemmy:

“I had a dream about Lemmy. When Lemmy was still alive I always got compared to Lemmy, so I had this dream where he got pissed at me. He gave me a bunch of shit, basically, and was hazing me. Not that he didn’t approve of me, but like I was being hazed. The song is me telling the world that I could never fill Lemmy’s shoes because Lemmy’s Lemmy. I wanted to pay homage to him in a great way. And it turned out to be such a good title that the guys said we should call the album Electric Messiah. This band keeps evolving. This is by far the best record I’ve ever made with the High on Fire stamp. It just keeps getting better and better. We just try to outdo ourselves. I’m not saying the old work is progressively worse, it’s just that we get better every time instead of burning out, which is a common finality for a lot of bands. This album is fucking excellent, I just love everything on it, I’m not bummed about anything. It’s great when you think that about your record.”^[7]^[8]

The album would be officially announced not long after the release of Sleep's comeback album The Sciences, premiering the title track in August.^[9] Notably "Sanctioned Annihiliation" would be the longest High on Fire song (10:29), the previous holder being "Master of Fists" (10:06) on the band's 2000 debut The Art of Self Defense. Electric Messiah would be released on 5 October 2018, peaking at #5 on the Top Hard Rock Albums and #127 on the Billboard 200.^[10] On 7 December 2018 it would be announced that the title track would be nominated for the Grammy for "Best Metal Performance".^[11] On 10 February 2019, at the 61st Grammy Awards, High on Fire would win the Grammy for "Best Metal Performance".^[12]

Electric Messiah would receive positive reception from several critics, attaining an 83/100 score on Metacritic.^[13] New Noise Magazine would award a 4.5/5 score, praising the "varied and organic-feeling approach".^[14] Louder Sound would award four stars, citing the album as "Electric Messiah reaches levels of intensity hitherto unmatched in this extremely heavy metal trio’s 20-year career.".^[15] The A.V. Club would highly praise the album, awarding an A- score.^[16] Pitchfork would also award a 7.8/10, noting more of a doom metal vibe lingering throughout but ultimately praising the album.^[17]

Electric Messiah would appear on several year-end lists:

The A.V. Club - The Best Metal Albums of 2018^[18]
Kerrang! - The Top 50 Albums of 2018 (#38)^[19]
Consequence of Sound - Top 25 Metal/Hard Rock Albums of 2018 (#20)^[20]
Loudwire - Top 30 Metal Albums of 2018 (#16)^[21]
Revolver - Top 30 Albums of 2018 (#15)^[22]
The Obelisk - The Top 30 Albums of 2018 (#13)^[23]
The Obelisk - The Top 20 Albums of 2018, Reader's Poll (#3)^[24]

Tracklist[]

All songs written by High on Fire.

1. Spewn From The Earth (3:59)
2. Steps of the Ziggurat / House of Enlil (9:21)
3. Electric Messiah (4:16)
4. Sanctioned Annihilation (10:29)
5. The Pallid Mask (5:15)
6. God of The Godless (5:20)
7. Freebooter (4:57)
8. The Witch and The Christ (6:32)
9. Drowning Dog (6:43)

Personnel[]

Matt Pike - Guitar, Vocals
Des Kensel - Drums, Percussion
Jeff Matz - Bass, Guitar; Backing Vocals (2)
Alyssa Maucere - Backing Vocals (2)
Kurt Ballou - Engineer (Drums), Mixing, Producer
Robert Cheeseman - Assistant Engineer (Drums)
Greg Wilkinson - Engineer (Bass, Additional Guitars)
Bryan Sours - Engineer (Guitar, Vocals); Backing Vocals (2)
Alan Douches - Mastering
Paul Grosso - Design
Skinner - Artwork

External Links[]

References[]

V·T·E High on Fire
Current Members	Matt Pike • Jeff Matz • Coady Willis
Past Members	George Rice • Joe Preston • Des Kensel • Nick Parks • Christopher Maggio
Studio Albums	The Art of Self Defense • Surrounded By Thieves • Blessed Black Wings • Death Is This Communion • Snakes For The Divine • De Vermis Mysteriis • Luminiferous • Electric Messiah
Extended Plays	High on Fire • Speak In Tongues • Bat Salad
Live Albums	Live From The Relapse Contamination Festival • Spitting Fire
Associated Bands, Artists, Etc.	Sleep • Kalas • Dear Deceased • Earth • Melvins • Harvey Milk • Zeke • Mutoid Man

[1] Blabbermouth

[2] Metalsucks

[3] Grammys

[4] Lambgoat

[5] Lambgoat

[6] Consequence Sound

[7] Decibel Magazine

[8] NPR

[9] Lambgoat

[10] Billboard

[11] Lambgoat

[12] Lambgoat

[13] tacritic

[14] New Noise Magazine

[15] Louder Sound

[16] A.V. Club

[17] Pitchfork

[18] The A.V. Club

[19] Kerrang!

[20] Consequence of Sound

[21] Loudwire

[22] Revolver Magazine

[23] The Obelisk

[24] The Obelisk

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