High on Fire

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High on Fire
Origin	Oakland, California, U.S.
Genre(s)	Doom metal Sludge metal^[1] Stoner metal
Years active	1999-Present
Label(s)	Relapse Man's Ruin
Associated acts	Sleep Thrones The Melvins Zeke Asbestos Death Kalas
Website	www.highonfire.net
Members
Matt Pike Jeff Matz Des Kensel
Former members
Joe Preston George Rice

High on Fire is a heavy metal band from Oakland, California that formed in 1999. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, previously played guitar for the influential doom metal band Sleep.

1 History
2 Members
- 2.1 Current members
- 2.2 Former members
3 Discography
4 Press
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Matt Pike founded the band in 1998 with drummer Des Kensel and bassist George Rice (from Dear Deceased, who originally auditioned to be the band's vocalist). The band's first recordings were released on 12th Records, with a full-length entitled The Art of Self Defense released later on Man's Ruin Records. (That album would later be re-released by Tee Pee Records as Man's Ruin Records had become defunct.) The band then signed a deal with Relapse Records and recorded the album Surrounded by Thieves, released in 2002. After a vigorous touring cycle promoting that album, bassist George Rice left the band. The band's next album, 2005's Blessed Black Wings, was largely written by Pike and Kensel before recording took place, and ex-Melvins/Thrones bassist Joe Preston joined them later in the studio. After about a year of touring to promote their latest release, the band again lost their bassist. Zeke bassist Jeff Matz joined up to help the band finish touring, later becoming a full-time member and contributing to the recording of their next album with famed producer, Jack Endino (Nirvana/Mudhoney). The new record entitled Death Is This Communion was released in September 2007 after a small string of Northwest shows to promote new material on the album. The band did a headline tour of North America in September and October 2007, with support from the Japanese post-rock band Mono, along with Panthers and Coliseum. [2]