HIGH PRIEST
HIGH PRIEST “Invocation”
By Theron Moore
I’ve been semi obsessed with HIGH PRIEST since I received this promo in the mail a few weeks ago. Hailing from Chicago, HIGH PRIEST play a melodic style of doom metal I haven’t heard in a while, and by that I mean original. A lot of modern day doom / stoner bands turn me off with their copycat SABBATH riffing and cut and paste musical style / image. If I want to hear BLACK SABBATH, trust me, I’ll go straight to the source.
HIGH PRIEST on the other hand offer up an original and somewhat unique style of metal that’s catchy, doomy, and slightly psychedelic. The track “Cosmic Key” is a great example of this, so is “Conjure,” an all-out cosmic riff fest of monumental proportion.
The wall of fuzz and sheer heaviness is a mile wide and ten miles deep throughout “Invocation” . High Priest has been described as the better parts of THIN LIZZY, early METALLICA, SABBATH, and ELECTRIC WIZARD. Whomever said this did the band a massive disservice, they’re nowhere near this description. They’re so much more.
Track one, “Invocation,” is solid doom metal with hints of CANDLEMASS and 70’s PINK FLOYD running through it. At times you can hear HIGH PRIEST channeling TROUBLE, early LED ZEPPELIN, and of course BLACK SABBATH but always in a background kind of way, often as ameans for setting up a riff leading into a song.
It’s tough to draw comparisons between HIGH PRIEST and other bands in the doom metal genre, and trust me, that’s a good thing; it speaks volumes to this band’s originality. There’s not enough high praise to heap upon HIGH PRIEST and “Invocation”. The vocals marry perfectly with the music and the end product is a soundscape that ranges from doomgaze to riff worship and never forgets to rock the hell out. “Invocation” is a 5 star must buy record.