Jeff Matz Delivers Powerful Riffs on High On Fire’s “Cometh The Storm”

High on Fire has returned with Cometh the Storm, marking their first studio album since 2018’s Electric Messiah. As such, it’s the first to not feature founding drummer Des Kensel, who left in 2019. Instead, riff masters Matt Pike and Jeff Matz are joined by Coady Willis, who adds his own huge sound to the mix.

“Des is a very unique drummer, totally one of a kind,” Matz told Revolver. “[Coady’s] not trying to reproduce Des’ parts verbatim. He really brought his own unique style and flair to the band’s existing catalogue, and did his own thing with it. He’s an amazing drummer and we’re really fortunate to have him on board.”

Matz utilized several instruments for the affair. Aside from his four-string, he took lessons on the Ba?lama (a traditional Turkish instrument) to widen their sonic palette. “Karanlik Yol” is the resulting track, which sounds like an alternate reality if the metal trio was from Eastern Europe.

He also played a double neck bass/guitar on the title track. Check out the video:

Bassists will also want to give a listen to “Lightning Beard,” which has some absolutely killer bass playing around the 2-minute mark.

Cometh the Storm is out now on CD, vinyl and as a digital download (iTunes and Amazon MP3).

Cometh the Storm Track List:

1. Lambsbread
2. Burning Down
3. Trismegistus
4. Cometh the Storm
5. Karanlik Yol
6. Sol’s Golden Curse
7. The Beating
8. Tough Guy
9. Lightning Beard
10. Hunting Shadows
11. Darker Fleece