#6 Priestess – Prior to the Fire

This one was a long time coming, almost four years in fact, and it blew every expectation I had right out of the water. After releasing their debut, Hello Master, Priestess was rolling quietly along until everything exploded; they signed to a major label, toured with some of the biggest bands in the biz, received increased radio airplay, and lent songs to smash hit video games. Fame, however, didn’t change them. In fact, they steered so clear of a commercial sound on Prior to the Fire that their label wouldn’t put it out. So that delayed things a bit, but Priestess finally found another way to release the album and despite the brilliance and success of Hello Master, there’s no doubt that Prior to the Fire is the album Priestess had always wanted to make. Stoner rock, progressive rock, classic rock, heavy metal…it’s all riffs and it’s all here in full bearded surround sound glory. And it’s completely perfect. This is my band, no doubt about it.

Listen to “The Firebird” from Prior to the Fire!

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I’m a solid four-and-a-half hour drive from Edmonton on a clear day, and there’s not many of those after the month of September in Northern Alberta. Autumn is but a whisper here. Hunters have just a few weeks of crisp, calm conditions in which to kill a cow elk and feed the family for the winter or else they’ll be searching for a clear shot through the swirling snow. It’s not unusual to see a wild rose bloom one day and the mercury drop out the bottom of the thermometer the next. You’re not insane if you put snow tires on your truck in August, you’re thinking ahead. So the thought of driving to Edmonton in the winter, even with the snow tires on, is enough to send me into permanent hibernation, but not even the blinding white wrath of Höðr will keep me from making it to the big city in late November. You see, all this frozen prairie wasteland nonsense, well…that was prior to the fire.

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