High on Fire continues its nearly decade-long domination of stoner-metal at large with the new Snakes of the Divine. Strike that: Actually, the disc completely blows everything it has previously made out of the murky black water the band swims in, pretty much making most of its peers weep into their bongs. Out of Divine‘s eight tracks, only two clock in at under five minutes, while the rest are brutalizing exercises in Matt Pike’s newfound hellish bellow. This time around, the band doesn’t so much melt your face as take its time with you, gutting your innards with a rusty knife before setting fire to you with a matchbook and can of kerosene. From the opening title track to standout track “Bastard Samurai,” Divine lobbies pretty hard to become the band’s magnum opus, 2005’s Blessed Black Wings notwithstanding.
This article appears in Apr 15-21, 2010.