Diving into the latest from Chicago’s High Priest gives us similar feels when listening through recent albums from REZN and Sergeant Thunderhoof for the first time in that it’s kind of a transcendent experience and one that you kind of need to take some time out of your day to wholly appreciate. That’s not to say Invocation can’t be enjoyed in bits and pieces but to really get yer money’s worth of these eight stacked tracks of pure, blissful Rawk then your first time listening needs to be uninterrupted and preferably at loud volumes.
The title track which greets listeners first is voluminous in scope and intent with John Regan and Pete Grossmann’s guitars signaling the epic journey we’re all about to embark upon. Then Justin Valentino chimes in with these broad vocal passages as drummer Dan Polak steadily slams out a lumbering beat and we’re off to the races. Figuratively, and kind of literally as the pace picks up up for a riff-fueled and rhythmic boogie wooogie of a showdown towards the finish line.
That badass boogie woogie feeling carries over into “Divinity” which cruises in next and crushes with an aural onslaught before “Ceremony” eases off slightly in tempo but not in intensity with Valentino’s distorted vocals creating an otherworldly air. “Cosmic Key” follows a similar path and a more laid back execution but no less loud with a Grossmann/Regan/Valentino wall of sound that’s a vibrating wonder throughout the track.
“Down in the Dark” is a cosmic symphony and thunderous from beginning to end with Valentino’s croon becoming a cry to fit the swaying mood of the epic track while “Universe” is a veritable riff factory flowing out of “Down…” in a way that it almost seems like the same song save for the Valentino-led bass intro. “Conjure”, ahem, conjures up some “Black Sabbath” vibes before heading off in its’ own Doom-y direction as “Heaven” concludes the new album with a heavy gospel that sounds like Rawk Gods themselves came down from on high to deliver the good word to High Priest who then conveyed the message to us lucky listeners.
Invocation releases on June 23rd through Magnetic Eye Records. Get yer pre-save and pre-order on now when you head here and for the latest from High Priest you can keep in touch across the information superhighway by clicking here, here, or here.