Head on a Pike - by Matt Pike (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

With dozens of full-color illustrations!

This is a retrospective of musical poetry by heavy metal guitarist and frontman, Matt Pike, which spans twenty years beginning in 1998 with the album Art of Self Defense up to the latest release, the 2019 Grammy-Award winning record, Electric Messiah. Every chapter features brand-new artistic interpretations from the minds and hearts of an incredible cast of illustrators, tattooers, printmakers, and painters Pike has been trusted since the beginning to depict his vision. The cast of artists are Arik Roper, David V. D'Andrea, Santos, Brian Mercer, Skinner, Jondix, Stash, Tim Lehi, Jordan Barlow, and Derrick Snodgrass created brand new, never before seen works specifically inspired by each album, including one large illustration to define the chapter ahead and two additional vignettes that are directly inspired by the songs. Each has their own bold and iconic style that perfectly compliments the breadth of Pike's various works. These prolific artists transport the reader further into a far-away landscape of ominous Lovecraftian entities, shrouded in wondrous and esoteric darkness. Together, they have redefined the way we perceive Underground Doom Metal these past twenty years and it is our honor to showcase them together along with the incredible written word of Pike.

Review Quotes

"Here, [Pike's lyrics are] presented with elegant minimalism, broken down by stanzas and verses, like a poetry book."--Consequence
Praise for Matt Pike

"...fronting the berserker roar of High On Fire, a band now on to the eighth in an incredible run of albums which make up one of the 21st century's most impressive metal catalogues."
--Olly Thomas, Kerrang! Magazine

"Matt Pike might be more regularly referred to as renaissance man if he didn't also appear to be the physical manifestation of rock 'n roll hedonism, the embodiment of the rejection of all pretension, the inheritor of Lemmy Kilmister's swaggering grit, Tony Iommi's axe wizardry and Hendrix's legendary appetites. And yet, the label seems completely apt given his creative output over the last few years."
--David Howard King, The Collaborative Magazine

About the Author

Matt Pike is a Grammy-Award winning heavy metal guitar player from the bands Asbestos Death, Sleep, and also the frontman of High On Fire and Kalas. He is currently working on his first solo record, put together during the pandemic. His career began 1989 in the Bay Area Punk and Metal Scene and has remained active to the present day. His individual guitar stylings are synonymous with Sabbath Worship, giving rise to the birth of Stoner Metal as we know it today.