High On Fire / Jumping Jack / Lizzard / Alunah @ Academy2, Birmingham 01/02/2013

High On Fire @ Academy2, Birmingham

“Why is there a 2-mile queue?! Why is it full of badly-dressed children?!” were pretty much the first two questions that stuck in my mind as I approached Birmingham’s less-than-pretty Academy venue on a cold, wet February night. After quickly realising that these pre-pubescent hordes were here to watch Two Door Cinema Club (nope, I’ve got no idea either) in the main room, I wandered up to a somewhat emptier doorway to be swiftly let into the more modest confines of the Academy2 venue to prepare for a full-bodied banquet of heavy metal.

Confusion on the door and a crazily early start time leads to many missing some or all of the opening set from local doom heroes Alunah. The female-fronted Sabbath-worshippers always command a huge, stadium-sized sound and seem perfectly at home away from the Midlands pub scene, here supporting some of the big boys of the genre. Searing riffage and commanding rhythms seep from every pore as Soph Day’s vocals charm the early-coming pint-swillers like a cross between Joan Jett and Lori S.

Next up are Lizzard, a somewhat unknown prog-metal act from Limoges, central France. What the trio lack in their familiarity to tonight’s fans, they make up for in raw talent,; hitting hard with a sound rooted in the heart of the best elements of Tool and A Perfect Circle, yet retaining a Gallic, European twist. Frontman Mathieu has a strident, commanding voice and slams riffs around like he’s auditioning for a job in Meshuggah. Drummer Katy is a revelation behind her huge mesh of cymbals and doesn’t miss even half a beat as she rampages through time-signatures that would make Neil Peart sit up and take note. The only downside is that every song here has pretty much the same structure for the whole set, and the wah-wah pedal is used a little over-extensively. Still, it’s metallic and fierce, with a heavy technical edge and the reception from the black t-shirts of Birmingham is a warm one.

Jumping Jack hit the stage next. Another bunch of unknown French metallers, they bring a whole new attitude to the evening – a let’s-have-some-fucking-fun-and-headbang-ourselves-into-oblivion attitude, that is! And when I say headbanging, I don’t just mean they’re playing some riffs and ruffling their curls a bit, I’m talking full on wind-milling, moshing and Guitar Hero posturing about the stage. It’s like watching Steel Panther do 30 minutes of Pantera covers as the trio demand maximum energy from the audience. Gigantic shirtless drummer Chris is headbanging so hard that he looks like the human incarnation of Animal from the Muppets and it’s amazing how he doesn’t bounce his kit off the stage and into the audience as he blasts through wave after wave of Jumping Jack’s Southern-blues fried metallic crunch. Guitarist Julien riffs away like he’s determined to personally resurrect Pantera and make them marry Skid Row at a civil ceremony with Shadows Fall acting as best man. They might not be the best band you’ve ever seen but they’re certainly one hell of a warm-up act!

Pike’s out. There’s that famous belly, that black-toothed grin and the giant wall of amps that we know and love from the stoner metal pioneer. High On Fire initially physically struggle to get on stage because drummer Des Kensal’s kit is too damn big to walk around, but as they explode into a venomous Serums of Liao, one thing is never in doubt: this is the loudest thing in the fucking universe right now. Kensal’s drumming is usually described with the word “pummelling” thrown in somewhere, but tonight it feels like he’s actually kick-drumming the living shit out of each and every one of us as the power trio summon forth a wall of sound that’s a force very few bands could match in the world of heavy metal. “Frosthammer!” bellows Pike as the band refuse to pause for breath and launch straight into the labyrinth of bruising riffs from the outstanding cut of 2009’s Snakes for the Divine. The sound may be louder than an orgy of helicopters, but yet the mix is near perfect: Jeff Matz’s bass growls like a rabid bear as Pike switches between histrionic solos and barbaric riffing with equal clarity.

The thing that’s great to see about High On Fire in 2012 is that they’re no longer “Matt Pike’s other band” with Matz and Kensal forming a rhythm section that couldn’t be separated by a chainsaw as Pike grins like a lunatic: foot on monitor, Les Paul on stomach. 10,000 Years is a stonewall classic from The Art of Self Defence debut from 2002 and packs just as much of a punch as the more recent demolitions HoF have so steadily laid to vinyl. Devilution is an unexpected treat of gas-guzzling biker-punk fury, brought up to date only by a frantic version of Fertile Green from the much celebrated latest album De Vermis Mysteriis. Madness of an Architect is a triumph of glowing enormo-riffs bigger than the sun as neanderthal blasts of Fury Whip and Speedwolf thunder by like juggernaughts on a midnight highway. There’s no time for an encore, but as closer Snakes for the Divine’s “rise up, fall down” chorus rings around the crowd, I’m not sure anyone could take another five minutes of Kensal’s furious punishment anyway.

As the roadie ninjas dismantle the kit and the crowd clears, I learn that one fan had to leave tonight’s performance to seek first-aid suffering from a nose-bleed brought on by the show, and that the mixing desk clocked tonight’s volume levels at well over 100db. If there’s any band in heavy metal right now who are the worthy inheritants of Motörhead’s “everything louder than everything else” moto, it’s High On Fire. Welcome back boys, welcome back.

High On Fire setlist: Serums of Liao, Frosthammer, 10,000 Years, Devilution, Last, Fertile Green, Rumours of War, Dii, Speedwolf, Fury Whip, Madness of an Architect, Snakes for the Divine.

Scribed by: Pete Green