''Blessed Black Wings'' is the third studio album by American heavy metal band

High on Fire High on Fire is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1999. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, also plays guitar for doom metal band Sleep. High on Fire won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Per ...

. It would be the only with Joe Preston on bass who would be replaced by

Jeff Matz High on Fire is an American heavy metal band from Oakland, California, that was formed in 1999. Matt Pike, the band's frontman and founder, also plays guitar for doom metal band Sleep. High on Fire won the 2019 Grammy Award for Best Metal Perf ...

. The tracks "The Face of Oblivion" and "Cometh Down Hessian" are based on stories by

horror fiction Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian J ...

author H. P. Lovecraft, ''

At the Mountains of Madness ''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science fiction-horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. It was or ...

'' and ''

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'', respectively. The vinyl version was released as a double LP and contains a bonus track, "Rapid Fire", originally by

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

. ''Blessed Black Wings'' was voted 48th in the '50 Greatest Albums of the 21st Century' by ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' magazine.

Reception

''Blessed Black Wings'' was released to positive reception. Critics in particular praised

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

's production of the album, with criticism mainly being pointed towards

Matt Pike Matt may refer to: *Matt (name), people with the given name ''Matt'' or Matthew, meaning "gift from God", or the surname Matt *In British English, of a surface: having a non-glossy finish, see gloss (material appearance) *Matt, Switzerland, a mu ...

's vocals. Eduardo Rivadavia of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

acknowledged Pike's appreciation of

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-ga ...

noting the influence of the band in the closing instrumental "Sons of Thunder". Adrien Bergrand of

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

praised the album for being more listener-friendly akin to

Neurosis Neurosis is a class of functional mental disorders involving chronic distress, but neither delusions nor hallucinations. The term is no longer used by the professional psychiatric community in the United States, having been eliminated from th ...

's ''

The Eye of Every Storm ''The Eye of Every Storm'' is the eighth studio album from the Californian band Neurosis. It retains the strong folk music influences prominent on the band's previous album '' A Sun That Never Sets'', while exploring their trudging and massive s ...

'' (also produced by Albini) while noting influence from

Motörhead Motörhead () were an English rock band formed in London in 1975 by Lemmy (lead vocals, bass), Larry Wallis (guitar) and Lucas Fox (drums). Lemmy was also the primary songwriter and only constant member. The band are often considered a precu ...

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

, and Entombed. Sam Ubl has stated that ''Blessed Black Wings'' and its sharper and more agile sound will appeal to fans of

Mastodon A mastodon ( 'breast' + 'tooth') is any proboscidean belonging to the extinct genus ''Mammut'' (family Mammutidae). Mastodons inhabited North and Central America during the late Miocene or late Pliocene up to their extinction at the end of th ...

's ''

Leviathan Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...

''.

Accolades

Track listing

Personnel

– guitar, vocals * Des Kensel – drums * Joe Preston – bass * Greg Norman – AMP repair * Produced by Steve Albini and High on Fire * Engineered by Steve Albini * Assistant engineers – Russ Arbuthnot, Rob Vester * Mastered by John Golden * Visuals by

Arik Roper Arik Moonhawk Roper (born 1973) is a freelance illustrator and painter based in New York City. Roper grew up in Richmond, Virginia. His parents both being artists, his creativity was encouraged and he spent a great deal of time during childhood ...

References

{{Authority control High on Fire albums 2005 albums Albums produced by Steve Albini Cthulhu Mythos music