What a fucking double bill!! The bastard sons of Motorhead & Slayer, Metal overlords High on Fire and post rock pioneers Pelican share the stage at Whelans on tuesday December 11. It's going to be incredible!!

HIGH ON FIRE

With a heavy-handed approach and a sound that crashes like thunder, HIGH ON FIRE has put the power back in 'power-trio'. Less a band than a supersonic exercise in conquest by volume and sheer heaviness, the band has burned the metal rulebook and forged a new archetype.

HIGH ON FIRE was formed by guitarist Matt Pike in late summer 1998. Formed out of the need to simply play guitar again, Pike jammed with and settled on a line-up of powerhouse drummer Des Kensel and longtime guitarist friend George Rice, who made the switch to bass to round out the trio.

They had scarcely been together for a few months before demo-ing three songs. That demo, featuring 'Master of Fists' and instant classics '10,000 Years' and 'Blood from Zion', became among the most sought-after tapes in recent hard rock history. HIGH ON FIRE got straight to the point, bashing away with a Neanderthal sense of purpose and creating hypnotic, droning waves of powerful riffs and low-end thunder of the likes not heard before.

Before the band had even made it's first live appearance, labels flocked to get a piece of the trio. In the end the band chose to record with the Mans Ruin label and the demo surfaced in the form of a mini-CD in early '99, while they continued writing for their debut full-length.

That debut, The Art of Self Defense, was welcome respite from commercialized rap-metal and warmed-over stoner-rock cliches of the time. The Art of Self Defense served up a rock hard, unorthodox form of modern metal cloaked in strange religious theology and the trio's style was unique, distinct, and absolutely crushing.

Accolades poured in the world over: Rolling Stone, Spin, GQ, Alternative Press, Magnet, Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Post, Village Voice and dozens of others publications. Almost overnight, HIGH ON FIRE were the unassuming heroes of the riff and the most celebrated metal band on the planet. On the waves of such massive exposure, HIGH ON FIRE hit the road. Europe was conquered with ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY in tow and the U.S. was taken in two tours of duty.

Summer 2001 saw Man's Ruin close up shop, leaving the band with no label and no distribution. Relapse offered, the trio accepted, and found themselves a new home and new full-length effort titled Surrounded By Thieves with gargantuan songs such as 'Hung, Drawn and Quartered', 'Nemesis', and 'Razorhoof'. Rarely has metal been as powerful and pure in its ability to translate primal fury and aggression.

The now-legendary HIGH ON FIRE tour juggernaut celebrated with a marathon North American Tour that saw them traverse the continent for six consecutive months with the likes of MASTODON, SHADOWS FALL, MOTORHEAD, SUPERJOINT RITUAL, and more, and a Japanese and European headlining tours. The touring was capped by the band being named one of Alternative Press Magazine's "25 Most Important Metal Bands".

In the summer of 2004, HIGH ON FIRE was joined by bassist Joe Preston (THRONES / ex-MELVINS). Preston replaced Rice, and made his live debut on a 14 city U.S. trek that concluded in Chicago, IL where the band entered Electrical Audio Studios with engineer Steve Albini (NEUROSIS, JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION, NIRVANA) to record Blessed Black Wings.

Blessed Black Wings exploded onto the scene. From the start the band hit the road and traveled the world, playing esteemed festivals such as All Tomorrows Party (at the request of The Mars Volta), Dour (Belgium), Quart (Norway), Intonation (Chicago), Hellfest (France), as well as the inaugural Sounds of the Underground Tour. Additionally, the band headlined internationally with the likes of MASTODON, CLUTCH, GWAR, and many more. Preston was replaced toward the end of the touring cycle by former ZEKE bassist Jeff Matz.

Blessed Black Wings was named one of 2005's best releases by Kerrang!, Revolver, Pitchfork, Rock Sound, Decibel and dozens of other publications the world over. Additionally, Pike was named one of the 20 best guitarists by Rolling Stone Magazine.

In June 2006, after a long, intense writing process, HIGH ON FIRE entered Seattle's Avast 2 and Soundhouse studios with legendary producer Jack Endino (NIRVANA, SOUNDGARDEN) to record their long-awaited new full-length, Death Is This Communion.

Death Is This Communion is High On Fire's ultimate sonic masterpiece. Matt Pike's unmistakable guitar playing and throaty war cry lead the charge, while Des Kensel's massive drumming takes on a new life and pushes the beast onward more urgently than ever. From the rampaging 'Rumors of War' and 'Fury Whip', through the hypnotic riffs of 'Ethereal' and the album's title track, Death Is This Communion is HIGH ON FIRE's masterwork.

HIGH ON FIRE:
Matt Pike: Guitar, Vocals
Des Kensel: Drums
Jeff Matz: Bass

HIGH ON FIRE website: http://www.highonfire.net

PELICAN

It becomes fitting, upon listening to Pelican's music, that the band hails from Chicago. When Tortoise and their contemporaries ushered in a new wave of instrumental music over a decade ago from the Windy City, it was a pastiche of genre-defying sound, simultaneously cohesive and expansive in influence. Similarly, Pelican's songs touch on so much from the canon of rock music. Yet they have refined their own sound over the course of their career - perhaps nowhere as progressively and courageously as on their third full-length, City of Echoes.

When the quartet's first full length, Australasia, came out in late 2003, it was an experiment in crushing heaviness, albeit melodic and compositionally a breed apart from their contemporaries. The songs excelled in opening themselves up: where there were glacier-thick walls of guitars, there were also shifts and nuances that gave the songs room to breathe. These nuances became even more pronounced on Pelican's 2005 sophomore album, The Fire in our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw. The band's recordings have all been issued on Hydra Head Industries, ostensibly a metal label. Yet on this second full length, it became apparent that the band had more in common with Slint and Hum than Slayer. Less amplified and ambient-style breaks in songs became more frequent while many of the riffs themselves became triumphant in nature. Whereas earlier material was imbued in a minor-chorded wall of sound, Pelican aimed skyward in full embrace of major keys and overtly uplifting melodies. Calling them simply a "metal" band at that point became inaccurate.

Now, with City of Echoes, a new step in Pelican's evolution is unveiled. However, this new album doesn't depict a shift as much as it exemplifies maturation. Growth is in the sharpened and charged delivery, and the clarity that the band's dynamics are finally afforded. Pelican has always reveled in textured progressions, but this new album showcases more twists and unexpected turns; songs with more of a narrative or lyrical feel. And as evidenced by the post-DC-punk influenced title track, the band's disparate influences are urgently clear - Failure and Jawbreaker are now easier reference points, thanks to a stellar recording by Andrew Schneider (Keelhaul, Cave In, Old Man Gloom). Fans of the band's heavier side won't be disappointed, though, with behemoths like "Dead Between the Walls" and "Bliss in Concrete." And whereas past recordings seemed to push forward Laurent Schroeder-Lebec and Trevor de Brauw's dynamic guitar playing, this album finds the rhythm section of brothers Larry and Bryan Herweg more exhilarating and present than ever before. "Far From Fields," "Lost in the Headlights" and "Spaceship Broken - Parts Needed" - songs inspired by spending months criss-crossing the country in a van - show Larry and Bryan finding exceptional new ways to drive the songs as a whole, rather than simply backing the guitar lines.

However, growth isn't only musical; it's also philosophical. "City of Echoes stands for the feeling of sameness brought on by globalization. It's visiting countries and seeing slight differences through the window, only to end up at the club and feel like you didn't see anything at all," explains Schroeder-Lebec. "But it's also a tribute to the joy that burns inside when you reach a place and people who don't speak your language are rooting for your songs and welcoming you into their unique environment." Two years on the road have tightened bonds and intensified the creative niche that Pelican has created. In a sense, then, amidst the steadily-creeping globalization that the band witnessed, they continue to perfect a musical space all their own - a center that eclipses the long days spent away from family and friends, their nights echoes of one another from one city to the next.