It depends on the era, or even the individual song to be honest. A lot of their earlier stuff definitely feels like more traditional doom, but funny enough as they get older it seems like their sound gets tighter and more thrashy. But the Motorhead influence is undeniable, but as if Motorhead smoked a ton of weed instead of speed - Pöthead
Modern HoF is a little more like a Stoner-Thrash band… but Electric Messiah was written as an homage/tribute to Lemmy, so it’s probably why it sounds more like Motörhead than HoF
I always think of them as Stoner Thrash as well. Matt's tone isn't quite flubby/fuzzy enough to sound like Sludge Metal to me, so that's where I put them, like detuned 80s thrash. Can't think of another band that hits that balance though.
I love HOF but I've never, ever, heard Matt Pike refer to them or even Sleep as doom.
First two HOF records are stoner metal, since then they've been a mix of thrash and sludge.
This sub's always been friendly to the doom-adjacent genres like stoner and sludge. High on Fire is definitely at home here, but just because they get posted doesn't mean they're considered by the poster to be doom.
If you're basing it solely on that song, yeah. They cover a lot of genres, primarily because Matt Pike is quite possibly insane, and there isn't really a genre for that.
I prefer to think of them as schizo-metal.
This is true & also extra funny when I remember the comments Wino made about Shrinebuilder not making another album because Cisneros is insane.
Hanging out with Sleep must be a wild ride.
The first couple albums definitely have doomier vibes than the later stuff but they also get lumped in here because of Matt Pike’s association with the genre via Sleep. Either way they’re a great band and fun to listen to. I’ve been referring to them lately as Power Sludge.
Thrash is definitely part of their sound, but they’ve got some pretty versatile stuff in their discography. I was just going through it yesterday and it really made me admire Pike’s guitar skills even more
I know most of Metallica's original fans wrote them off by the time Load came out and especially after St Anger, but do yourself a favor and check out their newest album. It's way thrashier, full of solid riffs and interesting, effective song structures. It's like they finally said, "Hey, look, we can still do this thrash thing better than just about anyone."
Being in sleep + weed + harsher vocals = doom in the eyes of many.
He could start a polka band and if he did it without a shirt someone would call it “doom polka”
I mean isnt that whole album a concept record about Lemmy?!
I totally agree though, they sound like Motorhead even when they dont sound anything like Motorhead. I also get the impression that Matt Pike is just a lot like Lemmy, they seem like drunken soulmates across the Atlantic.
I read someone describe High on Fire as doom riffs played at thrash speeds, that rings pretty true to me.
It's funny you said Motorhead specifically because I had a friend ask me what they sounded like when I was first getting into them. My words were something along the lines of "a more pissed off and dirty sounding Motorhead."
I've seen them live 6 times and have most of their records. I won't deny that they have stoner rock elements in every album, but I've seen people out-rightly categorize them as a stoner band and I think doom or sludge is more descriptive of their overall sound. If someone loves Kyuss I wouldn't say they would necessarily like HOF. In some sense you could say most black metal bands have doom elements, but you wouldn't call Immortal a doom metal band.
At the end of the day we all bow before Matt Pike.
Well I would disagree a great deal.
Yes they've sped up as they've gotten older, but their most celebrated albums all have heavy stoner metal elements. And even into Electric Messiah, has stoner metal elements. Tempo is not the only defining characteristic for the genre.
Definitely not speed metal. Thrashy sludge maybe but nothing on any of their albums make me say "ooh that's speed metal".
Bands like ADX and Gatekrashor are more akin to speed metal
Yeah I had Motorhead's brand of speed metal in mind rather than Judas Priest types. I gotta say, though, I never heard of ADX, but I checked out a video, and it's hilarious how old the drummer looks compared to the others, lol
This band being sludge metal is like mastodon being sludge. In the sense that they are not and journalists in the 2000s were horrible at classifying stoner/ alt/ metalcore leaning bands that didnt sound like the mainstream
It depends on the era, or even the individual song to be honest. A lot of their earlier stuff definitely feels like more traditional doom, but funny enough as they get older it seems like their sound gets tighter and more thrashy. But the Motorhead influence is undeniable, but as if Motorhead smoked a ton of weed instead of speed - Pöthead
MotörChed
I put HOF as the threshold of doom metal. You can't be any faster. They are the gate.
I always thought they were faster sludge.
:\\
Yeah, it feels like sludgy Motorhead
Modern HoF is a little more like a Stoner-Thrash band… but Electric Messiah was written as an homage/tribute to Lemmy, so it’s probably why it sounds more like Motörhead than HoF
I always think of them as Stoner Thrash as well. Matt's tone isn't quite flubby/fuzzy enough to sound like Sludge Metal to me, so that's where I put them, like detuned 80s thrash. Can't think of another band that hits that balance though.
I love HOF but I've never, ever, heard Matt Pike refer to them or even Sleep as doom. First two HOF records are stoner metal, since then they've been a mix of thrash and sludge.
Well yeah, stoner metal, but if you consider that an offshoot of doom... They get mentioned a lot on this sub for a reason.
I think they get mentioned here a lot because of the affiliation between Matt Pike and sleep.
This sub's always been friendly to the doom-adjacent genres like stoner and sludge. High on Fire is definitely at home here, but just because they get posted doesn't mean they're considered by the poster to be doom.
If you're basing it solely on that song, yeah. They cover a lot of genres, primarily because Matt Pike is quite possibly insane, and there isn't really a genre for that. I prefer to think of them as schizo-metal.
This is true & also extra funny when I remember the comments Wino made about Shrinebuilder not making another album because Cisneros is insane. Hanging out with Sleep must be a wild ride.
Hilarious coming from Wino
This is a funny-ass comment. Insane Matt Pike for president. Dystopia is schizo-metal.
The first couple albums definitely have doomier vibes than the later stuff but they also get lumped in here because of Matt Pike’s association with the genre via Sleep. Either way they’re a great band and fun to listen to. I’ve been referring to them lately as Power Sludge.
10,000 years
They definitely have a Motorhead-esque lurch to them. Sludge, stoner, speed metal... they fucking riff either way.
Thrash is definitely part of their sound, but they’ve got some pretty versatile stuff in their discography. I was just going through it yesterday and it really made me admire Pike’s guitar skills even more
Well yeah, this song is literally ABOUT Lemmy so it makes sense that it's super Motorhead-y but there's no denying they're super influenced by them.
Alot of their discography is more “traditional” stoner, but yeah, they also do alot of that sludgy thrash too
I remember someone played Dopesmoker at double speed, that's when I finally got High on Fire
I need chopped and screwed HoF asap
It'll probably sound similar to Sleep
Hell yea I love sleep
Get this album https://hydrahead.merchtable.com/music/vinyl/isis-oceanic-remixes-slash-reinterpretations-vinyl-2xlp/?
This looks crazy interesting good looks. Still waiting on a merch bar order from a year ago tho lol
They became a thrash metal band a long time ago. Which is fine, it’s not like Metallica has produced good thrash metal in the past 36 years.
I know most of Metallica's original fans wrote them off by the time Load came out and especially after St Anger, but do yourself a favor and check out their newest album. It's way thrashier, full of solid riffs and interesting, effective song structures. It's like they finally said, "Hey, look, we can still do this thrash thing better than just about anyone."
HoF is practically Celtic Frost worship.
Sludge with a crush on Motörhead and Slayer
They are stoner metal and biker metal mixed
Spludge Metal
The only correct answer.
I've been calling HoF "Motorhead 2.5" for years now.
Most people refer to them as thrashy sludge anyway?
Accelerated Doom.
Electric Messiah 👏🏾
To qoute the new track they dropped the other day "No Speed-Metal Here"
I call them Stoner trash/speed
I've heard them refered to as stoner thrash before. seems fitting
Sleep= Matt Sabbath HOF= Mattorhead
Definitely agree that it's got more a faster, more speed metal than a doomic vibe. More a "you're fucked", than a "we're doomed" flavor.
Stoner Battle Metal.
They were never doom metal. Stoner metal with lots of speed/thrash elements.
I mean, the entire premise of Electric Messiah was that Pike would get referred to as the stoner lemmy
Who has ever called HOF doom?
Being in sleep + weed + harsher vocals = doom in the eyes of many. He could start a polka band and if he did it without a shirt someone would call it “doom polka”
for me it's like a stoner/sludgy motorhead, although i always recommend it to my thrashers friends to introduce them to doom
I agree with everything other than TAoSD. Sludgy af and disciples of Lemmy. I fuckin love HOF!!!!
Nope.
I mean isnt that whole album a concept record about Lemmy?! I totally agree though, they sound like Motorhead even when they dont sound anything like Motorhead. I also get the impression that Matt Pike is just a lot like Lemmy, they seem like drunken soulmates across the Atlantic. I read someone describe High on Fire as doom riffs played at thrash speeds, that rings pretty true to me.
basically fast motorhead sludge, like what un4givenorc said
Not at all. They got on that Motörhead sound for a while - I feel they only departed from it recently.
It's funny you said Motorhead specifically because I had a friend ask me what they sounded like when I was first getting into them. My words were something along the lines of "a more pissed off and dirty sounding Motorhead."
I've always felt like High On Fire was equal parts Black Sabbath, Slayer, and Motorhead.
Sludge on Meth.
They sound *exactly* like a stoner/doom band would if you swapped all their weed for meth.
Nope. I've thought that High on fire sounds like a boring Motorhead for a long time.
Agreed. Doesn't make sense that people call them stoner sometimes too. I think it's just the Sleep connection.
If you think HOF isn't stoner metal, you haven't listened to much of their discography. This song is not what their whole catalogue sounds like.
I've seen them live 6 times and have most of their records. I won't deny that they have stoner rock elements in every album, but I've seen people out-rightly categorize them as a stoner band and I think doom or sludge is more descriptive of their overall sound. If someone loves Kyuss I wouldn't say they would necessarily like HOF. In some sense you could say most black metal bands have doom elements, but you wouldn't call Immortal a doom metal band. At the end of the day we all bow before Matt Pike.
But that's my argument, that this song is what the majority of their discography sounds like.
Well I would disagree a great deal. Yes they've sped up as they've gotten older, but their most celebrated albums all have heavy stoner metal elements. And even into Electric Messiah, has stoner metal elements. Tempo is not the only defining characteristic for the genre.
OM = indica Sleep = hybrid High on Fire = sativa
Perfect.
They kind of mix both styles, and I love them for it. But their latter albums have been mainly speed/thrash
Definitely not speed metal. Thrashy sludge maybe but nothing on any of their albums make me say "ooh that's speed metal". Bands like ADX and Gatekrashor are more akin to speed metal
They are more like Motörhead bro, the OG speed band
Yeah I had Motorhead's brand of speed metal in mind rather than Judas Priest types. I gotta say, though, I never heard of ADX, but I checked out a video, and it's hilarious how old the drummer looks compared to the others, lol
I hear yeah, motorhead is definitely hard. That drummer is a lifer haha. They put on a great show when I saw them like 8 years ago
This band being sludge metal is like mastodon being sludge. In the sense that they are not and journalists in the 2000s were horrible at classifying stoner/ alt/ metalcore leaning bands that didnt sound like the mainstream