Originally Posted by The Batlord

No, I get what he's saying. A riff is still part of a song. The HOF riff might be better all by itself, but Frownland just seems appreciate the Sleep one for it's ability to work with other elements of the song, rather than just its standalone quality. Perhaps versatility over brute force.

I don't have as good an ear for how musical elements work together for the most part, so my appreciation for the HOF riff (I still need to vote I guess) is down to its violent, percussive attack. It just pummels in a way that references doom, while having a slight industrial metal approach (i.e. Godflesh-style percussion over "groove"). Not that I'm comparing High On Fire to Godflesh, but I think there's a certain similarity just in that one riff.



So did you actually like the song, or just prefer it? Cause if so I'd highly recommend their Death Is this Communion album for your Classic Albums thread. The band plays a pretty unique blend of Motorhead, Black Sabbath, thrash, and dashes of many other metal bands and genres. They're in my Metal Album Survivor thread under stoner/sludge, but that's a pretty loose way to categorize them. As far as I'm concerned they're just kind of... metal. The kind of band that goes by instinct rather than adhering to a sub-genre playbook.