Matt Pike, guitarist and vocalist of High on Fire, has announced his debut solo LP, which comes out on Feb. 18, 2022 and will be titled Pike vs. the Automaton. Put together during lockdown, the album will release via MNRK Heavy.
“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,” Pike says in a press release. “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?”
Guest musicians include Alyssa Maucere-Pike (Lord Dying / Grigax), Chad "Chief" Hartgrave, Brent Hinds (Mastodon), Steve McPeeks (West End Motel), Josh Greene (El Cerdo), Todd Burdette (Tragedy), and Jeff Matz (High on Fire).
Pike vs. the Automaton track listing:
1.) Abusive
2.) Throat Cobra
3.) Trapped In A Midcave
4.) Epoxia
5.) Land
6.) Alien Slut Mum (watch VIDEO)
7.) Apollyon
8.) Acid Test Zone
9.) Latin American Geological Formation
10.) Leaving The Wars Of Woe
