Electric Messiah

Electric Messiah is the eighth studio album by American metal band High on Fire, released on October 5, 2018, through Entertainment One Music. It is the band's third album to be produced by Kurt Ballou,^[8] and it serves as a tribute to Lemmy Kilmister of the band Motörhead.^[9] On August 6, 2018, Electric Messiah's title track was released early for streaming.^[10] On October 3, 2018, the band released "Spewn from the Earth" as the album's second single.^[11] The song "Electric Messiah" won the Best Metal Performance at the 2019 Grammy Awards.^[12] It is the band's last album with founding drummer Des Kensel, who announced his departure in July 2019.

Electric Messiah
Studio album by High on Fire
Released	October 5, 2018
Recorded	2017–2018[1]
Genre	Stoner metal sludge metal thrash metal
Length	56:52
Label	eOne
Producer	Kurt Ballou
High on Fire chronology
Luminiferous (2015) Electric Messiah (2018) Cometh the Storm (2024)
Singles from Electric Messiah
"Electric Messiah" Released: August 6, 2018 "Spewn from the Earth" Released: October 3, 2018

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	83/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
The A.V. Club	A−[4]
Exclaim!	8/10[5]
Pitchfork	7.8/10[6]
PopMatters	7/10[7]

Background

In July 2018, a few months after High on Fire frontman Matt Pike's other primary band, Sleep, released its comeback album,^[13] Electric Messiah was announced.^[14] Pike called it "the best album we've ever done, by far", and described its flow as "one stream of High on Fire consciousness".^[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Spewn from the Earth"	3:59
2.	"Steps of the Ziggurat / House of Enlil"	9:21
3.	"Electric Messiah"	4:16
4.	"Sanctioned Annihilation"	10:29
5.	"The Pallid Mask"	5:15
6.	"God of the Godless"	5:20
7.	"Freebooter"	4:57
8.	"The Witch and the Christ"	6:32
9.	"Drowning Dog"	6:43
Total length:		56:52

Personnel

High on Fire

• Matt Pike – lead vocals, guitars
• Jeff Matz – bass, backing vocals
• Des Kensel – drums, backing vocals

Technical personnel

• Kurt Ballou – production

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Rank	Ref.
The A.V. Club	The Best Metal Albums of 2018	N/A	[15]
Consequence of Sound	Top 25 Metal/Hard Rock Albums of 2018	20	[16]
Kerrang!	Top 50 Albums of 2018	38	[17]
Loudwire	Top 30 Metal Albums of 2018	16	[18]
Revolver	Top 30 Albums of 2018	15	[19]

Awards

• Grammy Awards
  • Best Metal Performance "Electric Messiah" by High on Fire^[20]

Charts

Chart (2018)	Peak position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[21]	184
Scottish Albums (OCC)[22]	73
US Billboard 200[23]	127
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[24]	5
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[25]	23