High on Fire, Priestess, Black Cobra & Bison BC played Gramercy Theatre in NYC

photos by Chris La Putt, words by BBG

High on Fire

With the Snakes For The Divine infiltration on full steam, High on Fire played to an uber-packed Gramercy Theater on Friday (3/9). Part of a greater US tour, serious firepower came from the riff battalions of Priestess, Black Cobra, and Bison BC. The sold-out crowd were treated to recent material from all performers (three of the four have albums that have been released in the recent past), with Bison BC expecting their punisher Dark Ages on 4/13 (Tuesday). Much like 2008's Quiet Earth, the new Bison LP is a burner, skillfully meshing moments of stoner rock, thrash, and even crust punk to create a record to raise a beer to, if only you can stop headbanging. Bangover indeed.

Though all bands pride themselves on huge riffs delivered at exceptional volume, it seems that for a short time, that was muzzled:

Mr. Pike's guitar sounded as if it were coming from someone's living-room stereo. Suddenly High on Fire seemed small and delicate. This wasn't how it was supposed to go down. It took half the set to get the mix right, through to the new 'Fire, Flood & Plague,' whose four-bar chordal riff includes a couple of half-step waverings, like the cracks in a devotional singer's wail, and whose guitar solo was sprayed and gestural and fantastic, ignoring the moving harmony. -[New York Times]

More pictures from the show are below with current US dates...

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Bison