High on Fire’s Des Kensel Teases Us About New Album

Everything is new in the High on Fire camp these days. The kings of sludgy, stoner rock are currently in pre-production mode in Los Angeles and are getting ready to record their first album for E1 after a long and fruitful relationship with supreme extreme label, Relapse.

"We basically got a whole new crew of people: manager, booking agent, producer, engineer, label," drummer Des Kensel told Noisecreep. "We cleaned house and it was time for a change. Relapse is great and we weren't trying to get off the label. We had been around for so long and the contract was up, and we wanted to see what offers we could get. And we got a good one. Hopefully, we're right about the better offer after the new album comes out."

The band has "nine solid songs" written so far. "You never know, the album could have eight or 10 songs," Kensel speculated. "As long as we hit the 45 minutes of music mark, we're fine. We like the direction it is going in, and we feel positive about it -- and our old and new fans will like it."

HOF create the type of swampy, bottom-feeding metal that makes you want to scrub yourself clean after a listen. But it's so well-written. "In a way, it is more technical," Kensel said of the new songs. "But still have that raw, dirty feel that is our sound. Because of the years and years of touring, we got faster and more intricate. It seems to work every record, so this record will be even more so. It'll be slower with some fast stuff for the moshers."

High on Fire will tour this fall with Mastodon and Dethklok.