Yearbook photo of High On Fire frontman Matt Pike.
 
Such Hawks Such Hounds documents the rise of hard rock from its roots in bands like Blue Cheer, Hawkwind, Black Sabbath, Sir Lord Baltimore, Led Zeppelin and Atomic Rooster to current carriers of the proto-metal torch High On Fire, Om, Mudhoney, Kyuss, Comets On Fire, St. Vitus, The Melvins and more.

Drawing inspiration from Sixties psychedelia and 70s groups that spawned heavy metal, there is a purity of purpose and missionary zeal shared by many of the bands in Such Hawks Such Hounds. Playing a genre of rock that is often maligned (mostly by people who haven’t heard much of it) and has had little commercial success on a mainstream level, these musicians really are doing it for the love of rock and roll. They give a shit.

This year, I went to concerts by Kylesa, High On Fire, Mastodon and The Sword and I felt an energy that recalled the punk shows of the Seventies. The only thing missing were the hooks. The speed, volume and adrenalin were there - the songs a barrage of riffage, tightly woven, intricate, expanding outward and brutal, but lacking the addictive anthems of punk or melodious sonics of Zeppelin or Sabbath.  And that’s what keeps bands that I deeply appreciate like Mastodon from becoming bands I love. I place them on the shelf among albums by Ornette Coleman, Sandy Bull, Captain Beefheart, Scott Walker and The Godz, music I admire, understand and respect, but rarely listen to, except in small doses. In order to keep me coming back, a song has to cohere into a shape that is as memorable, symmetric and sexy as Jane Birkin’s tits.  

However you like your riffage, you’ll find much to dig in Such Hawks Such Hounds. And if you want to show the film makers some love, you can buy the DVD here.

Featuring: Acid King, Across the River, The Atomic Bitchwax, Bardo Pond, Brant Bjork, Comets on Fire, Dead Meadow, Earthless, Fatso Jetson, High on Fire, Kyuss, Mammatus, Nebula, The Obsessed, Om, Pearls and Brass, Saint Vitus, Sleep, sunn O))),Thrones.