Words by David C. Obenour
For more than two decades, High on Fire has fearlessly pursued and perfected a style of heavy metal that’s won throngs of fans while still existing primarily outside of the traditionally understood mainstream. The veil of this division disintegrated further in 2018 when Electric Messiah won them ‘Best Metal Performance’ at the GRAMMY Awards. If you didn’t recognize that poster at the record store or the shirt under the jean jacket before, there are few excuses left. Roaring back with full wind in their sails, High on Fire return with Cometh the Storm in April of 2024.
Heralded with red skies and crackling lightning, perhaps more than any other genre, metal is experienced with the art it is packaged in. Before you hit play, before the first riff shreds, rhythm pummels, or lyrics are growled, the album cover has already welcomed you on a journey into the world you’re about to experience.
One of the most celebrated illustrators of this medium is Arik Moonhawk Roper. In addition to his long-running work with High on Fire that continues with Cometh the Storm, Roper has been responsible for covers, shirts, posters and more for such bands as Sleep, Earth, Sunn 0))), The Black Crowes, Earthless, Buzzoven, and countless others.
Off Shelf: Reading some of the press around the release of last year’s Vision Of The Hawk, it’s obvious that you construct a researched and coincidingly oftentimes involved narrative for the worlds that your art exists from. Can you tell us about what’s happening in the cover of Cometh the Storm? What is the surrounding reality that reaches past the edges of this illustration? That drives the crew of the ship?
Arik Moonhawk Roper: I wanted the artwork to convey a sense of impending force. The imagery depicts a ghostly ship within what can be seen as a sky, or an ocean, traversing this awesome storm. Is the ship part of the storm itself, is it the terrible eye of the storm? Or is it or sailing on it? In either case there’s an ominous quality to this overwhelming wave that’s about the break onto the viewer. In the original sketch version I had a small tower on the lower corner. This was to give some scale to the size of the ship and it implied that this storing was happening in the sky, more like a traditional hurricane. However I decided to leave it out because I liked the ambiguity of wondering whether we’re seeing an ocean or a sky.
My view on the title was of an approaching mysterious, possibly dangerous, event. It could be a physical event or force, it could be a psychological event. “Something radically transformative on the horizon” was my basic interpretation. I know the band had their own ideas behind the meaning of the title but I went with my own. Another interpretation I’d considered was the myth of Pandora’s Box, and the idea of chaos emerging into the world.
OS: What inspirations did you take from our reality to construct that world? Were there any new or unique influences you could talk about that you were able to explore?
AMR: The ship is the element that bears the most connection to a “real” world and for that I did reference some ships, but I obviously stylized it in my own way. I was somewhat influenced by some of J.M.W. Turner’s dramatic paintings of storms at sea. I wanted to capture a similar motion and lighting.
OS: You’ve worked with High on Fire for quite some time now, is there a narrative universe that weaves throughout the pieces you’ve created?
AMR: A lot of the work does appear to exist in some shared universe as if they’re chapters of the same story. That’s not a conscious decision but apparently it’s a mode that I get into when I think of making imagery for the band. There’s a hot “fiery” color palette usually, and there’s Martial energy within it. Clearly the music and lyrics play a role in all of this.
OS: How much influence did you take from the music? What about this collection of songs translated into the art you created for it?
AMR: I had access to the demo version of the tracks so I was able to hear some of it. But I’m familiar with them so I do know what vibe the music will project for the most part. As I said, there’s nothing literal that I took from the lyrics and music. It’s more an general aesthetic based on the title and what I know of their sonic magnitude and aura.
OS: What is your collaborative process with High on Fire like these days? How involved is the band? How has that evolved?
AMR: It’s always been fairly easy with them. They trust me to come up with something that fits, there’s not much back and forth or revisions. This time I dealt with Jeff [Mattz] mostly about the logistics. Previously Des [Kensel] and I would communicate about it and of course Matt [Pike] is always involved. Sometimes the ideas start with Matt telling me what he has in mind but it’s always left to me to brainstorm and visualize the material.
OS: Do you consider previous albums when approaching an album cover? How relating or departing from a style might affect a listener’s experience?
AMR: I don’t really consider the previous covers. I’m aware of a visual theme I’ve created with them but I’m not really thinking of that when I make a new work for them. I do think departing from an expected style would affect the listener’s experience for just about any band. An entire mood can be changed just by the feel of the album art. It’s an interesting psychological experiment to think of your favorite album with entirely different art in another style. This makes a difference in the aesthetic experience of it. The art and music packaged together create a multi- sensory experience.
OS: Outside of the album art, have you created any other pieces – shirts, posters, or otherwise – for Cometh the Storm?
AMR: Not yet, but I’ll be doing another t-shirt soon. There has been a shirt made using the cover art.
OS: Are there different considerations you have when approaching art for a shirt or poster?
AMR: A shirt is a more limited canvas. The image often works best as an easily readable and bold image. Same applies to a poster though I’d be much more elaborate with it. There are exceptions to these things of course, I’m talking generally.
OS: How do you see the back cover as a companion piece? What considerations do you have when extending the art to it or an accompanying booklet?
AMR: I often continue the art onto the back. I’ve always liked albums that maximized the landscape orientation that way. But there’s an art to making a front and back separately. The front can be a “set up” and the back can be the “punchline” so to speak. The back can change the meaning of the title or the cover image and act as an epilogue. There are brilliant examples of this on many album covers if you look for it. A booklet is an opportunity to expand even further into the world of the music. Anytime I’ve had the chance to make one, I’ve enjoyed it.
OS: Having enjoyed a long career in the art that adorns music, have listening trends affected any of how you approach album covers? Whether the rise of the larger vinyl format, the decline in CD sales with their booklets, or the growing dominance of streaming.
AMR: No. Despite the format fluctuations I still approach everything like it’s going to be a foldout album cover and people are going to be staring at it in an altered state of mind for hours.
OS: Is there a recent album cover you’ve discovered that’s fascinated you? What about it resonated?
AMR: Whenever I take a look and new album art across genres I find some interesting ones. The only recent one that comes to mind right now is Aaron Horkey’s cover for Wayfarer’s American Gothic album from 2023. It’s gorgeously illustrated typography as Aaron does so well. It sets a mood for the music that works very well.