High on fire- Blessed black wings

This album came out a while ago, but they are still touring for it so I still consider it kind of current. Anyway this is the third outing from this California trio fronted by former Sleep guitarist Matt Pike. The first impression that they sound not unlike a cross between Motorhead and Slayer. The first several songs are fairly straight ahead and basic, but certainly heavy. Around the middle the album things slow down a bit more on the title track and To cross the bridge and we hear some of the heavy sludge that was the backbone of Matt Pike's former band Sleep. These guys are very heavy for sure, but my only complaint is that it is very basic. Yes, yes, I know that I love a number of bands that are basic. I just feel that after listening to this album could have easily been done in 1992 instead of 2004. My problem with that is that a lot of people of trumpeting these guys as being a great thing for heavy metal, but I think they are not breaking any new ground. I appreciate and recognize their energy, but I see them as merely good rather great. There are a few moments where they get beyond a basic formula like on the excellent instrumental Sons of Thunder which is just dripping with heavy 70's inspired riffs.For the most part they are not as complex as Sleep were before their break-up in the late 90's and I miss that. If you like your metal simple, heavy and to the point then you can't go wrong with this album. It also comes with a dvd with a few live tracks of the band playing in a small club which manages to capture the energy these guys bring.