Get high!

I think I'm becoming more of a metal fan as I get older. I've been listening to a lot of black metal (Woe, Happy Days, Leviathan, Xasthur, Weakling, Blood of Kingdu, Ash Pool, old and new Darkthrone), 1980s American stuff like Icon and Assassin, classic Canucks such as Razor and Anvil and the usual and unusual NWOBHM suspects: Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, Bleak House, Dark Star, to say nothing of more recent acts like Sunn0))), Corrupted, Wolves In The Throne Room, Slough Feg, Cauchemar, Christian Mistress, Hammers of Misfortune, Bison B.C. Reverend Bizarre, The Obsesessed, St. Vitus and Wino's other various outlets ... but all that's just mostly in the last five years. I always listened to Black Sabbath, Voivod and Motorhead, but there's one act that bridged the gap between listening habits new and old, and that's High on Fire. I was one of the few to catch them when they played Ottawa last time around, opening for Voivod on a frosty 1990s night, and have stuck with them since — not hard to do since there albums to date have all been top-notch.

Here's the mainman Matt Pike himself, with drummer Des Kensel behind him.



Over on the left side of the stage, Jeff Matz.



Fiery action!



Des hits!



Monitors, still mostly for standing on.



Matt sings (or perhaps "bellows" would be more accurate).



The whole lot!



High on Fire's stage crew were kind enough to let me go down front.



Brace yourself!



More Matz!



Time for a bit of chit-chat.



Feedback action!



Them amplifiers!



Roof-raising action!



A killer show.

• Show reminder: Evening Hymns, Giant Hand and Jon Amor are at the Umi Cafe; just up the street at Raw Sugar you'll find Dirty Projectors' Nat Baldwin, Kurt Weisman, and Travis Laplante of Little Women; power pop aficionados will all be heading to Babylon to see The Biters, Mother's Children and The Bators; Tim Barry, Sainte Catherines, Dig It Up, Cavaliers!, Northcote and Jon Creeden perform at Mavericks; Jimmy Hunt plays Zaphod's; Hugh Pool and Mulebone get bluesy at The Rainbow before the regular Thursday reggae show; the Elmdale House Tavern hosts The Ringtones, Scottmandu and Devlin Miles.