High Fighter
Live At WDR Rockpalast – Argonauta Records
Live albums are always a bit of a gamble simply because a level of clarity is sacrificed in the name of spontaneity. Get it right and you’ll sound uber cool, fail though and everyone will wince at your perceived ineptitude. High Fighter fall very much into a sub-zero level of cool for several reasons. Firstly the recording of their songs is just so. It captures the essence of the live performance but avoids all the terrible distortions you often get. Top marks then to the knob twiddling technician. The real success here though is the band and their music. Their sludge metal groove is simply epic on this record. You get a real sense of the power and majesty of the writing, and also you get to hear the cerebral little nuances too. The vocals are both haunting and engaging, and critically are clear as a bell. Listening to this album makes you want to go and see High Fighter for real. You can’t really get a better testimony than that. It’s a live album that urges you to go to a venue and watch in person. High Fighter, take a bow.
Review by Gary Trueman