Label- MNRK Heavy
Release - 18 February 2022
Words- Tony Bliss
Outside of metals (un)hallowed, hall of fame Iommian riff writers, you would be hard pressed to name a more celebrated six stringer than Matt Pike. Whether it’s bringing the red-eyed, spliff worshipping thunder in stoner overlords Sleep or his riff ‘n’ roll speed freak raging with High On Fire, there is seemingly little the Michigan native cannot turn his magic hands to. ‘Pike vs The Automaton’, his first solo effort, is a multi-tentacled beast which not only reaffirms his guitar hero status, but also adds a few new strings to his songwriting bow.
Erupting with the Motorhead saluting clangor of ‘Abusive’, we could be forgiven for thinking right off the bat that the record will be business as usual. And whilst there is plenty of Pike’s signature snarl (just check out the hardcore, D-beat blood rush of ‘Acid Test Zone’), it is the cuts that really prove to challenge fans expectations that impact most. Album highlight ‘Land’ for example is a slow burning country ballad, seeped in Americana soul and carried by Pike’s gravel-throated croon, whereas eleven minute closer ‘Leaving The Wars Of Woe’ weaves some woozy psychedelic touches and an extended, instrumental wig-out between its Sabbathian turbo-blues. 60’s inspired, prog-rock production (‘Alien Slut Mom’), cuban style boogie (‘Latin American Geological Formation’), it’s all here, and it’s all new territory.
Indeed, every second of this record is thick with atmosphere and esoteric flair, and as close as we come to unfiltered High On Fire mode here everything feels queasily offset by the main man's weirdest visionary urges. Described by Pike as a result of garage jamming during recent periods of (unavoidable) inactivity, ‘...vs The Automaton’ comes across as an interesting, if slightly off-kilter, creative splurge from one of our worlds most fertile minds.
7/10
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