With a sound that could easily be described as Slayer and Motorhead drunkenly jamming together, High On Fire look to be THE band to usher in the apocalypse in 2005. With the power of the riff cementing itself as their weapon of choice, their latest work finds them mercilessly immolating any who dare stand in their path. While much has been already been said about the band featuring Matt Pike of the infamous Sleep and of course now Joe Preston of Thrones/Melvins fame within their line-up, High On Fire are a band that have rapidly become an entity of their own.

"Blessed Black Wings" expounds this singular existence with the pride of a biker showing off their club. Shitkickings complete with mud-encrusted boots are unleashed without restraint and subversively intricate structuring reigns supreme. From the gritty type of doom riffing Black Sabbath pioneered decades ago to elements of thrash and beyond, this album lives and breathes oppressive, larger than life instrumentation. Entirely sludgy and rooted in ominous imagery, the band either gallop forward with reckless abandon or drag the listener through a swampy instrumental that almost always leaves them drowning in a patch of wretched, cabalistic aural quicksand.

Truly inspiring and unnervingly talented, High On Fire have taken the torch passed down from Sabbath and promptly lit themselves on fire with it. The carnage they leave as a result is a glorious testament to the power of simplified metal and the included production talents of Steve Albini capture its hunger with alarmingly clarity. Of course, those not into this style of music will find little of interest here, plus the tail end of the album does have more than its fair share of long-winded jamming. But if there was one album to bridge the gap between fans of classic bands like Sabbath and modern contenders like Mastodon, "Blessed Black Wings" is it and more.