High On Fire - The Art of Self Defense (2001) LP Tee Pee Records

Rght off the bat, Matt Pike crafted a band and an album that feels like the genesis of Sleep, the seminal Oakland stoner rock act. It's heavy beyond heavy, fuzzy riffs and bombastic drums tied together with Billy Anderson's production, who also produced Dopesmoker.

The Art Of Self Defense came just a few years after the dissolusion of Sleep and brought Matt's love of heavy metal to the fore, creating tracks with more of a nod to 1980's metal than Sleep's 1970's Sabbathy sound. It's still slower than a thrash record and in some ways feels like one played at half speed. That tie to stoner rock is still felt and in the best of ways - its a slow, headbanging record you can get ridiculously high too and still enjoy, but one that you can also use to get you amped.

Almost every track on this record is a favorite of mine, as it most of the material from their second effort, 2002'sSurrounded By Theives, mostly because it still has a very unique sound - Green Matamp's turned up to 10, Pike's excellent playing, George Rice's stellar bass work and Des Kensel's crushing drums. Even the solo's, which I normally find tedious on so many metal records, retain a soulful feel, Clapton meets Kerry King, but the sounds is very much all its own.



This LP version of the first record, which was originally released by the now-defunct Man's Ruin, has all the original tracks and an additional 7" with two bonus tracks - The Usurper - an awesome Celtic Frost cover and Steel Shoe - a driving proto-metal riff and fast-paced track more consistent with HOF's later material on Death Is This Communion.

It's a must own for any Sleep fan and any fan of stoner metal, but would find a good home in the collection of any metal enthusiast. It's a record that gets better every time I listen to it.