Heavy Song of the Week is a Heavy Consequence feature that breaks down the best metal and hard rock tracks you need to hear every Friday. This week, the theme song is “Cometh the Storm” by High on Fire.
It was just Bass Week here in Consequence, so maybe I'm just too aware. But of the many heavy songs I've covered so far this year, none have woken up my subwoofer like High on Fire's latest single, “Cometh the Storm.”
It's already a bass-centric track, composed around a phrase that bassist Jeff Matz stumbled upon while fooling around in the practice room. But the crushing chorus is something else, with Matz and Matt Pike dragging their fingers across the fretboard in unison. Anyone who has played bass (or a tuned guitar) knows how this technique can generate (in Matz's own words) a sonic “sledgehammer,” and it's something Pike uses often as a member of Sleep. It works just as well in the context of High on Fire, as demonstrated here.
Honorable mentions:
Anvil – “Feed your fantasy”
Anvil is one of the most inspiring stories in heavy metal: the underground thrash band that could. A song like “Feed Your Fantasy” would be a cliché in the hands of others; however, it reads like a conscious anthem when delivered by Steve “Lips” Kudlow. “Make it all come true / It's what you do / Loving it too / From start to finish.” Those lyrics are sung from personal experience and ring true, as the cult Canadian band prepares to release their 20th studio album, steadily moving forward despite major commercial success or widespread fame.
Darkthrone – “Black Dawn Affiliation”
“Black Dawn Affiliation” is a linear riff-fest; perhaps an odd choice for a single, as Fenriz explained on its release, but on par with Darkthrone's current songwriting style. Overall, this leans more towards thrash-prog than atmo black metal, following the same trend as recent Darkthrone albums, and the next Nocturno Culto riff is always just as good as the last, a must if you don't have the intention to repeat or repeat again. many of them. At this point, the Norwegian masters can just exhale this material, and it remains the benchmark for old school black metal.
You – “I don't feel anything when you cry”
NOLA sludge purveyors You speed things up here, forgoing fatal tempos for a fast-paced, steady pace that would be more at home in the context of post-hardcore. However, even at their most accessible, the band twists and smothers the track with layers of harshness. The skeletal elements of the song are barely legible, creating a challenging effect where the ears and mind seek to peer through a noisy haze. Much more captivating than if they had simply left the rhythm out in the open.
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