After some early-2021 teasing, High on Fire frontman/Sleep guitarist Matt Pike has officially announced plans for his debut solo album Pike vs. the Automation. It's due to arrive on February 18 through MNRK Heavy, and today we're getting our first taste with lead single "Alien Slut Mum."
The track arrives alongside its own music video that finds a pack of rambunctious metalheads getting buzzed, fishing, throwing axes, getting high and hitting the hot tub while demonic alien forces lurk in the shadows of their minds. It's a fantastic seven-minute foray into some truly decent B-horror aesthetics that wonderfully matches the energy of the track.
A description of the visual effort reads: "Four friends enter the woods, for a getaway, little did they know they would never return! Dogmen, Sasquach, Reptilians, or alien slut mum?!?! Where have they gone??"
The rest of the album promises to be "both a musical and emotional release," with its songs written and recorded during the pandemic.
"I was just going bonkers during the pandemic. It was like really, truly miserable. And then all the riots here in Portland and all the political shit. I was trapped in my garage, which was the only place I could go and jam and do anything," Pike said of the record's inception.
He continued:
I was trapped in there 'cause I couldn't go jam with High on Fire, I couldn't do this, I couldn't do that, no one could fly. I was going crazy. My friend Jon Reid, who was the original drummer for Lord Dying, had moved to Portland and was babysitting my dog, Crom, and he was drumming for my wife's band, so he had his drums already set up at my place. I finally said, "Dude, do you want to come over and just start jamming?" So, I just started this thing with my friend Jon. I was like, Dude, fuck it. Let's start a side band and we'll just demo this and act like we're starting it as teenagers, you know?
"I made a psychedelic rock record that Sleep and High on Fire fans would like," he continued. "And maybe if you're not a Sleep or High on Fire fan, you might like it too."
Watch the video for "Alien Slut Mum" below, where you'll also find the album's tracklisting. Pike vs. the Automation is available for pre-order here.
Pike vs. the Automation:
1. Abusive
2. Throat Cobra
3. Trapped in a Midcave
4. Epoxia
5. Land
6. Alien Slut Mum
7. Apollyon
8. Acid Test Zone
9. Latin American Geological Formation
10. Leaving the Wars of Woe
The track arrives alongside its own music video that finds a pack of rambunctious metalheads getting buzzed, fishing, throwing axes, getting high and hitting the hot tub while demonic alien forces lurk in the shadows of their minds. It's a fantastic seven-minute foray into some truly decent B-horror aesthetics that wonderfully matches the energy of the track.
A description of the visual effort reads: "Four friends enter the woods, for a getaway, little did they know they would never return! Dogmen, Sasquach, Reptilians, or alien slut mum?!?! Where have they gone??"
The rest of the album promises to be "both a musical and emotional release," with its songs written and recorded during the pandemic.
"I was just going bonkers during the pandemic. It was like really, truly miserable. And then all the riots here in Portland and all the political shit. I was trapped in my garage, which was the only place I could go and jam and do anything," Pike said of the record's inception.
He continued:
I was trapped in there 'cause I couldn't go jam with High on Fire, I couldn't do this, I couldn't do that, no one could fly. I was going crazy. My friend Jon Reid, who was the original drummer for Lord Dying, had moved to Portland and was babysitting my dog, Crom, and he was drumming for my wife's band, so he had his drums already set up at my place. I finally said, "Dude, do you want to come over and just start jamming?" So, I just started this thing with my friend Jon. I was like, Dude, fuck it. Let's start a side band and we'll just demo this and act like we're starting it as teenagers, you know?
"I made a psychedelic rock record that Sleep and High on Fire fans would like," he continued. "And maybe if you're not a Sleep or High on Fire fan, you might like it too."
Watch the video for "Alien Slut Mum" below, where you'll also find the album's tracklisting. Pike vs. the Automation is available for pre-order here.
Pike vs. the Automation:
1. Abusive
2. Throat Cobra
3. Trapped in a Midcave
4. Epoxia
5. Land
6. Alien Slut Mum
7. Apollyon
8. Acid Test Zone
9. Latin American Geological Formation
10. Leaving the Wars of Woe
