Portion of Distortion: High on Fire/Torche/Kylesa at Webster Hall - 10.24

Portion of Distortion: High on Fire/Torche/Kylesa at Webster Hall - 10.24: "

”You might not want to take the whole thing.” Good advice. Sage advice.



The first time I saw High on Fire, I was interning for a corporate barter firm in London in the Summer of 2005. My only reference point for the band was Blessed Black Wings, and the name “Matt Pike” didn’t mean anything to me. I didn’t even know who he was when he offered to buy me a drink at the bar before the show, thinking he was just some creepy American metal dude who was stoked another American was at the show. Turns out, that was exactly the case, but I didn’t understand the significance at the time. You live, you learn.



The High on Fire/Torche/Kylesa show at Webster Hall on 10/25/10 was a pretty rad time. I rarely get stoked about a three-band lineup, but it’s already happened twice in 2010 (Boris/Torche/Russian Circles at Music Hall of Williamsburg this past August was the first), and hopefully it’ll happen again before the year’s out.



I had already seen High on Fire and Torche a total of seven times, so I was most excited to see Kylesa, what I can only describe as “Hipster Metal,” even though the term hardly does the band justice. A common critique from metalheads of the brew that wear Iron Maiden patches and sport band tattoos is that Kylesa doesn’t need two drummers. Believe me, they don’t. But they pack a mean punch and play a rather diverse setlist, so piss off, old dudes. This band is here to own. And own they do. I was a wee bit disappointed they didn't play 'Nature's Predators,' but hey, maybe next time.



Despite having a fill-in drummer, Torche owned like they normally do: pitch-perfect vocals, a calvacade of energy and tones so low about ten groups of friends looked at each other with “Holy shit, dude!”-faces whilst head-banging in unison. 'Out Again,' the heroic diddy that closes out their latest full-length, Songs for Singles, sounds amazing live.



High on Fire came out and burned through a set mixed with new masterpieces (Snakes for the Divine is my favorite record to date, see “Frost Hammer,” “Bastard Samurai” and the title track) and old classics like “Blessed Black Wings” and “Turk.” Matt Pike didn’t offer to buy me a drink, but that’s cool, I had enough of my own.



I bought a king’s helping of merch: A Kylesa t-shirt for a buddy who couldn’t’ make it, and a nice, healthy handful of beautiful vinyl:



Kylesa – Spiral Shadow (180-gram)

Kylesa – Spiral Shadow (Yellow Vinyl)

Torche – In Return

Torche – Songs for Singles

High on Fire – Snakes for the Divine  (180-gram)



Now I’m home in BK, powering through a deli sandwich, watching some tube. Portion out.

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