Snakes for the Divine

Snakes for the Divine
Studio album by High on Fire
Released	February 23, 2010
Studio	The Pass Studios (Los Angeles)
Genre	Stoner metal, sludge metal, thrash metal
Length	45:55
Label	E1 Music
Producer	Greg Fidelman
High on Fire chronology
Death Is This Communion (2007) Snakes for the Divine (2010) De Vermis Mysteriis (2012)

Snakes for the Divine is the fifth studio album by American heavy metal band High on Fire.

History and recording

Snakes for the Divine was recorded at The Pass Studios in Los Angeles ^[1] with producer Greg Fidelman. The album cover art and track listing were revealed on the band's Myspace page on January 6, 2010. The album was released on February 23 through E1 Music.

Theme

In an interview, frontman Matt Pike stated: "The title 'Snakes for the Divine' is based on the premise that Adam and Eve weren't the first people on Earth, and Adam having a wife that was a Reptilian named Lilith. They were the first two people to take the reptilian DNA, and make shape-shifting human beings that go between the fourth-dimensional, the Anunnaki, and human beings. Eventually, from ancient Mesopotamia, this spawned a thing called the Illuminati - the enlightened ones - coming up through the centuries, and choosing the kings, controlling your media, controlling your banking, blah blah blah. It's just theory at most points. I thought it'd make a great metal song, so I just went ahead and started writing about that. That's how the record came about, as far as the theme.." ^[2]

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	80/100 [3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[4]
AllMusic	[1]
Blabbermouth.net	[5]
Drowned in Sound	[6]
Jukebox:Metal	[7]
Pitchfork Media	[8]
PopMatters	[9]
Rock Sound	[10]

Exclaim! named Snakes for the Divine the ninth-best metal album of 2010. ^[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by High on Fire

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Snakes for the Divine"	8:23
2.	"Frost Hammer"	6:07
3.	"Bastard Samurai"	6:37
4.	"Ghost Neck"	5:01
5.	"The Path" (instrumental)	1:20
6.	"Fire, Flood & Plague"	6:08
7.	"How Dark We Pray"	8:06
8.	"Holy Flames of the Fire Spitter"	4:13
9.	"Mystery of Helm" (bonus track)	4:01
10.	"Eyes & Teeth (Live)" (Best Buy bonus track)	4:31
11.	"Cometh Down Hessian (Live)" (Best Buy bonus track)	4:33

Personnel

• Matt Pike – guitars, vocals
• Jeff Matz – bass
• Des Kensel – drums
• Greg Fidelman – production
• Arik Roper – album cover

References

1. Review, AllMusic
2. "High On Fire's Matt Pike: Lyrics 'About Exorcising My Own Personal Demons' | Interviews @". Ultimate-guitar.com. Retrieved March 9, 2012.
3. "Snakes for the Divine by High on Fire". Metacritic.
4. Pacheco, George. "Review: 'Snakes for the Divine'". About.com . Retrieved February 27, 2010.
5. Bergman, Keith. "Review: Snakes for the Divine". Blabbermouth.net . Retrieved February 27, 2010.
6. Gardner, Noel. "Review: Snakes for the Divine". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved March 5, 2010.
7. Andy Lye. "Jukebox:Metal review". Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved January 9, 2013.
8. Breihan, Tom. "Review: Snakes for the Divine". Pitchfork Media . Retrieved March 8, 2010.
9. ^[ dead link ‍]
10. Kerswell, Ronnie. "High On Fire - Snakes For The Divine". Rocksound.tv. Retrieved February 23, 2025.
11. "Year in Review: Metal". Exclaim! . Archived from the original on October 4, 2012.