We will take any opportunity to tell you how much we fucking love Matt Pike, lead guitarist for stoner legends Sleep and frontman of Grammy-winning groove metal destroyers High On Fire. Now, we’re excited to learn that Matt has a new solo album in the can, which he’ll be releasing in February. Not only that, but he’s dropped a new single titled “Alien Slut Mum” via an insane music video, and, well, if you watch one video this year titled “Alien Slut Mum,” make it this one.
Regarding how his solo debut, Pike vs. The Automaton, came together, Pike recalls, “I was just going bonkers during the pandemic. It was like really, truly miserable. And then all the riots here in Portland and all the political shit. I was trapped in my garage, which was the only place I could go and jam and do anything. I was trapped in there ‘cause I couldn’t go jam with High on Fire, I couldn’t do this, I couldn’t do that, no one could fly. I was going crazy. My friend Jon Reid, who was the original drummer for Lord Dying, had moved to Portland and was babysitting my dog, Crom, and he was drumming for my wife’s band, so he had his drums already set up at my place. I finally said, ‘Dude, do you want to come over and just start jamming?’ So, I just started this thing with my friend Jon. I was like, ‘Dude, fuck it. Let’s start a side band and we’ll just demo this and act like we’re starting it as teenagers, you know?'”
“Alien Slut Mum,” the album’s first single, definitely sounds like what one would expect from Pike, with a galumphing chug and roaring vocals. The video, meanwhile, directed by Triangles, premiered at Decibel today, and tells a charming tale of a crew of friends getting together, doing a shitload of drugs, and being pursued by monsters in the night. Check it out below:
Matt Pike’s new album, Pike vs. The Automaton, will drop February 18th, 2022, via MNRK Heavy. The record is now available for preorder.
Check out the full tracklisting and cover art below:
- Abusive
- Throat Cobra
- Trapped In A Midcave
- Epoxia
- Land
- Alien Slut Mum
- Apollyon
- Acid Test Zone
- Latin American Geological Formation
- Leaving The Wars Of Woe
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Words by Chris Krovatin
